


Realizations

by airmanon



Series: A Cuphead Fanfiction [2]
Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-02-28 16:12:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13275138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airmanon/pseuds/airmanon
Summary: After Lillia Gemma Morgana fell into the Devil's service, secrets that were hidden even before start to be realized. But will Lillia try to break all ties to the Underworld after what she goes through, or does she have a reason to stay affiliated with the Darkness?





	1. Prologue: Deal with the Devil

**Author's Note:**

> Although there are tags for relationships, I have tried to tone down most of the shipping that was present in Motivations when it comes to shipping the characters that canonically exist in Cuphead. This is based on feedback from Motivations. However, I still put the tags in to indicate that the relations do exist in this story, but they aren't on the forefront.

# Prologue: “Deal with the Devil”

Inkwell Hell - a place where normally only the dead and the sinful visit. Ever since the Devil lost against Cuphead and his brother Mugman, very few on the surface ever thought about going back there. Despite this, one soul had recently fallen under the Devil's service. That soul belongs to the human Lillia Gemma Morgana. She was interviewing the various residents of Inkwell Isle that owe the Devil their soul, and had thought to speak to the Demon and his Right Hand Man, King Dice, to get their sides of the story. However, Lillia’s growing confidence in her ability lead to her downfall when she bet that she could get her articles published, only for all the publishers to reject her work on the grounds that none want to appear to be sympathizing with the villains. Now, after a fake report claiming that she was dead got out, Lillia had to start adjusting to what might as well be her new life, including using the alias Lily.

Lillia sighed as she started to look around the workshop. After all, she thought about that contract and realized that The Devil could arbitrarily extend the amount of time she had to serve. If she didn't live long enough then he might just take her soul. But even if he decides to let her go, could she really return to the world she knew? Even if the shock of learning that she's alive doesn't cause trouble, Lillia figured that people wouldn't want to associate with someone who worked with the demon. After all, it didn’t seem like anyone was keen to hear Dice’s side of the story either and he’s not the Devil himself.

When Lillia looked at the printing press that was the main focus of the workshop, she decided that the first thing she’d try to do with it was see if she would be able to publish the articles she wrote. As she began to study the machine to figure out how it worked, King Dice walked in. The Devil asked his Right Hand Man to see if she was getting started, but when Dice asked Lillia how things were going, Lillia sighed, “Not all that easy to figure out something without the manual, huh?”

King Dice face-palmed, “I knew I was forgetting something!”

Luckily though, once he pointed out to her what needed to be done, Lillia caught on quickly enough. As he left to get the manual, Dice thought to himself, “I hope this works. Can’t afford too many failed endeavors.”

Once Lillia used the press for the articles she had ready, she noticed a button that was glowing yellow. On the button was the word “Publish”. Dice mentioned that she needed to press it once she was done, but Lillia honestly was starting to think that it wasn’t really a printing press but something more high-tech. When the woman pushed the button, she saw what looked like a series of sparks going through ribbon-like wires to the nearby wall and out towards somewhere she couldn’t see. During this time, the button she pushed turned green and a few lights turned on that indicated that things were in progress. Eventually, those lights turned off and a paper near that wall printed to indicate that the papers she ran through the machine got through. Lillia tilted her head, “Dad would probably know about this more than I would.”

Soon afterwards, Inkwell Isle erupted in confusion. On Island 1, Hilda Berg exclaimed, “I thought Mr. Presston said that he wasn’t going to publish these!”

Cuphead scratched his head, “I did hear that from him, but somehow these are Lillia’s articles.”

Mugman stammered, “C-Could this be her gh-gh-ghost?”

Jonathan Bluestone shook his head, “Only if she was dead. This looks like the Devil’s work to me. I bet that he forced her to work for him under the premise of an otherwise massive debt.”

Cuphead raised an eyebrow, “I thought you said she was no gambler.”

Jonathan replied, “No, but it might’ve been like what you mentioned regarding King Dice losing a bet to the Devil. She might’ve bet that she could publish these articles, but since the boss and the other papers rejected them… you see where this is going, right?”

Hilda Berg then asked, “If you’re saying she’s down in Inkwell Hell, shouldn’t we go save her?”

Jonathan shook his head, “Normally, I’d be all for that, but keep in mind that would probably be what Old Scratch wants in the first place. No, I think we need to wait and gauge the situation better. Besides, if I know her, Lillia might try something that we’d find pretty silly.”

Mugman then asked, “But how will we know she’s handling it alright?”

Jonathan answered, “She recently sent me a letter. I think I can use Jack to maintain communications.”

Cuphead raised an eyebrow, “Jack?”

Jonathan replied, “My pet bird. I meant to introduce him to Lillia, but never had the chance to.”

Jack squawked, “Awk! That’s Captain Jack to you! Awk!”

The Cup brothers exclaimed, “What the?!”

Jonathan had a sweatdrop on his head as he explained, “Sorry about that. I was watching a movie that I liked a lot when I met him. Apparently Jack likes the movie - no - the franchise - so much he learned some of the phrases from it! It’s made things rather awkward when I try to speak with Brineybeard though.”

The two cups laughed and even Hilda couldn’t help but snicker a little imagining it.

On Island 2, Baroness Von Bon Bon looked at the articles with worry. She knew right away that Lillia was stuck working for the Devil. However, trying to convince the others wasn’t really working well. Beppi was sure that the Devil was only trying to make it look like it was Lillia by using her articles, and he and Djimmi believed that Lillia died before the Devil could potentially take her soul. Djimmi suspected that maybe King Dice was behind the shenanigans, but the trio was pretty sure that the Devil was the ringleader. Grim Matchstick on the other hand did believe the baroness when she told him her suspicions. As the dragon explained, Lillia visited him on the night she disappeared and it seemed like something was bothering her. Unfortunately, everyone else was too freaked out over this mysterious publication to really consider the possibilities. What didn’t help matters for Baroness Von Bon Bon was that there were some rumors going around about a missing young man who seemed to have looked a little like her, only orange instead of pink. The rumors were saying that he came from a distant island, and this happened because of a missing persons notice sent from such a land. Lillia’s article mentioning her interview with Baroness Von Bon Bon only strengthened those rumors, and the Baroness of Sugarland began to wonder if this young man might have answers to what happened to her mother.

On Island 3, things were more chaotic. While the general consensus was that The Devil was up to something (whether Lillia was involved or not), the debtors who were on that island were struggling to try and keep people from heading down to Inkwell Hell to investigate. As Sally Stageplay pointed out to her love interest (who thankfully wasn’t one of those trying to go there), “This might be the very thing the Devil’s trying to get people to do. If they go down there, they might get caught up in the gambling and/or make deals causing all this trouble to happen again!”

Werner Werman, despite hiding out in his residence normally, called a meeting with Dr. Kahl and Rumor Honeybottoms. Dr. Kahl was still trying to find all the pieces he needed to rebuild his robot, but decided to take a break and come to the meeting to discuss the matter. Rumor Honeybottoms was able to keep her employees from getting caught up in the mess by pointing out that they may need to double check their security systems just in case this was only a warning. After all, Island 3 was the one that was advancing in technology more than the rest of Inkwell, but if the Devil’s able to bypass security systems, then who knows what crazy schemes he could try next? She agreed to come to the meeting in the hopes that the other debtors would have an idea as to what they should do moving forward.

As for the other debtors on that island who were not going to the meeting? The Phantom Express, like Sally Stageplay, was trying to point out to those trying to cross the tracks the danger that could happen, but this sadly lead to more fights for those who weren’t deterred. Unlike Cuphead and Mugman, these residents thankfully weren’t tough enough fighters to get past the train (even without the Head of the Train able to fight back himself), but that didn't stop some from trying to sneak across the tracks. Captain Brineybeard and Cala Maria on the other hand decided to try and investigate what they could. Both of them knew that Lillia was stuck doing the Devil’s work. Captain Brineybeard saw Lillia enter Inkwell Hell the night she lost the bet, and Cala Maria saw her briefly in the morning when the woman sent her letter to Jonathan. Through those two bits of information, they knew a crucial part of what happened. However, they weren’t sure about some of the other pieces of the puzzle. Captain Brineybeard decided to ask around town for any clues, while Cala Maria was going to check with her aquatic friends if they knew anything about what was mentioned about angels. “After all,” Cala Maria explained to her rival, “If we can catch the Devil and/or King Dice in a lie, then that would discredit the information in the articles and make that attempt a failure.”

Captain Brineybeard then pointed out, “Yarr… that may be so, lass, but someone’s going to have to get her outta there at some point! Those landlubbers the Cups busted may be con men, but Lillia seems to be an honest one. Her virtues might be exploited to paint a friendlier face to the Casino to draw victims in. We know better, but not everyone would.”

That night, The Devil was looking over the papers with a grin, “Glad to see that it’s working, Dice!”

But that was when the Devil noticed that Dice wasn’t there. The demon then asked, “Dice?”

Lillia, who was there, then said, “He said that he was going to check the Underworld. Said something about the other Dark Nobles sending messages.”

The Devil’s eyes widened, “The others are actually writing to me? What madness is this?”

That was when they heard what seemed to be a foot knocking on the door. Lillia went to answer it, only to see King Dice holding an unconscious man and a letter. King Dice looked at Lillia with suspicion as he asked, “You secretly corresponding with Jonathan?”

Lillia sighed, “Yes, I sent a letter, but I know Jonathan would likely try to investigate, especially if I didn't. I hoped to reassure him that he didn’t have to worry about me.”

The Devil seemed more intrigued by the man that Dice was holding. The demon then asked, “Where’d you find him?”

King Dice then said, “I was just checking the Underworld, when I saw this man had collapsed just outside the place where the Underworld connects to Inkwell Hell. He had a message with a certain seal on it, so I figured that Beelzebub or his reincarnation sent him.”

The Devil took the letter that was in the young man’s bag while Lillia took the letter that Jonathan sent. She asked about what to do with the man, but the Devil simply said, “You handle him Lily. If he knows about us, he might try to escape. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

After King Dice dropped off the unconscious male inside the first floor of Lillia’s workshop (which basically had 4 floors. The ground floor contained everything related to her work. The first floor functioned mainly as a meeting area but doubled as a makeshift infirmary. And the second floor was basically the residence area. The Top floor was currently empty.), he left to check the Casino. Lillia took a moment to look over this youth. His appearance reminded her of Baroness Von Bon Bon a lot, but whereas the baroness looked like she might resemble a raspberry soda, this man looked like he resembled an apricot soda instead. He also looked like he wasn’t ruling a candy area, but probably was in some sort of food-themed area.

Before she could figure anything else out, she heard a noise come from the youth as he finally opened his eyes. Lillia gasped but then asked, “Are you alright?”

The young man sat up and clutched his stomach area, “I think so.”

Lillia quietly asked one of the animated beings under her command, an animated grape-vine plant, to see if there was any food around. She then gently said, “T-take it easy, okay?”

The young man sighed, “Easier said than done… forgive me, but where are we?”

Lillia replied, “Inkwell Hell. I-”

The man then interjected, “So I managed to find this place? That’s a relief.”

Lillia then asked, “What happened? And who are you?”

The man then spoke, “I am Aurelio de Abelard, heir to the duchy of Quesano… though I don’t think that’ll last.”

Lillia then asked, “What do you mean?”

Aurelio sighed, “Thing is, I don’t think Quesano should remain a monarchy. I had spoken with the people of that land and they seemed interested in stepping towards a more democratic governance. In all honesty, I was willing to oblige them. Making that transition happen was the first thing I was going to do if I ever became the Duke of Quesano… but the other nobles seemed to oppose the idea. One night, Fondesu, the Prime Minister or Chancellor - I forget his title - came to me with a warning that the other nobles were going to assassinate me. He had one errand for me to do if I wanted to live.”

Lillia then asked, “What was the errand?”

Aurelio replied, “He handed me a letter, telling me to take it to Inkwell Hell. I agreed to do the task, both because it was the only way I knew that I could live, and because I hoped that this would give me a chance to investigate a letter my mother gave me before she passed away.”

Lillia then said, “I’m sorry.”

Aurelio shook his head, “It’s alright. Thing is, even though it hurts, I already learned to cope with loss after my dad passed.”

Lillia was about to apologize again, but the heir shook his head, “Before you ask, the Duke of Quesano adopted me as an heir. Apparently, he and the Duchess consort weren’t able to have children of their own.”

With a frown, Aurelio added, “However, I remember my mother told me many times not to come here, but after this errand and even before that - nightmares about this place and seeing a woman who looked a bit like me only with mainly pink instead of orange. I remember my mother mentioned regretting that she couldn’t bring her daughter with her. Saying that she feared that her children would fall into dark hands.”

Lillia glanced to the side, grabbed the paper that had the article related to Baroness Von Bon Bon, and said, “I think I know who the woman that appeared in that dream might be, Aurelio.”

As Aurelio was looking at the article, the Grape Vine came back with some food prepared. The young man was probably starving considering how quickly Aurelio ate what was there. He apologized for any rudeness and explained, “In all honesty, I don’t think Fondesu really expected me to make it, considering how there were no maps of where he told me to go. I don’t know how long I was wandering down there, but eventually I collapsed. Next thing I know, I’m here. If you don’t mind me asking, what is your name?”

Lillia thought a moment, but then answered, “Erm… just call me Lily. I can’t really say my actual name due to… circumstances.”

Aurelio nodded, “That’s a nice name.”

Lillia smiled, “Thanks.”

Before they could say anything else, they heard the Devil laugh. Before Lillia could so much as stand up to face the source of the sound, the demon entered the room holding the opened letter and grinning, “I think we’re onto something, Lily! A few patrons started to come back and the new machines Dice set up are a hit!”

Lily nervously smiled, “I see.”

However, things took a turn for the worse when the Devil revealed that the letter basically indicated that the writer (who signed it as Beelzebub) didn’t want Aurelio to get back to Gulantia where the Duchy of Quesano was at. Furthermore, while Beelzebub bet that Aurelio would not survive the trip, the letter indicated that if he somehow made it, then The Devil was free to figure out what to do with him, but requested that he don’t take his soul right away.

As the Devil was eyeing Aurelio, Lillia stepped in front of him and said, “Thinking of taking the soul of one who was just starting to recover from a long journey? That’s low, even for you, boss!”

Aurelio’s eyes widened, “Boss? Lily, you-?”

“Long story short,” Lillia interjected, “I lost a bet and working for him was the only way I could repay it.”

Aurelio nodded. Devil laughed, “What do you intend to do? Fight me? You can’t defeat me!”

Lillia smirked, “You’re no airman, so even if the odds are against me, I might take the chance if you don’t show mercy to Aurelio here. Besides, how often has a **mortal** made the trek through the Underworld without a map to help him find his way? It’d be such a waste to just take his soul, doncha think?”

Lillia winked at this last part. The Devil looked at Aurelio, then Lillia, then Aurelio again. Finally, The Devil looked at Lillia again and sighed, “Fine. I’ll have mercy on him, but in return, he has to contribute as soon as he recovers. And what could he possibly provide to the Casino that isn’t covered already?”

Aurelio replied, “I happen to know quite a few recipes from back home. I could perhaps -”

Devil scoffed, “Yeah, yeah, but will food really -”

Lillia interrupted, “That’s a great idea, Aurelio! I remember looking at that menu before and there isn’t much variety there. And considering how those dance machines work up quite an appetite, having a cafeteria or restaurant area near that new arcade would be an excellent way to get people to stick around a bit! What do you think, sir?”

King Dice came back having heard the conversation and sighed in amusement, “I’d hate to say this boss, but I agree with these two. Besides, you know Beelzebub’s famous in the Underworld for his cooking prowess. If this fella claims to know recipes that the Dark Noble of Gluttony knows, then that’ll give Inkwell a taste of the outside world, further incentivising them to come here.”

Aurelio’s smile faded as he noted, “The only problem is do we have enough ingredients?”

Devil smirked as he was about to pull out a contract, but King Dice got in front of him and said, “Hold up, Boss! I know we need all the help we can get, but let’s see if he can handle with what we’ve got before jumping to the contract! Besides, if that contract gets burnt, we’ll lose more from it than if we wait!”

Devil smirked, “Alright, as soon as you’re ready, meet me at the casino, kid.”

As the Devil and his Right Hand Man left the room, Lillia sighed, “Well, if they’re going to force you to work here, then I might as well tell you the full story if you don’t mind.”

Aurelio shook his head, “Not at all, Lily. Thanks for standing up for me.”

Lillia smiled, “No problem.”

With a sigh, Lillia sat down facing Aurelio as she explained, “My real name is Lillia Gemma Morgana. I was working for the newspaper on Inkwell Island One around the time when The Devil lost to Cuphead and Mugman, two brothers who gambled their souls at the casino and lost. In order to save themselves, they pleaded for mercy, and the Devil decided to send those two out to collect the Soul Contracts of his various debtors on the three islands that make up Inkwell Isle. I had decided to go interview those debtors to understand what they sold their souls for, why they did so, and the circumstances surrounding it. I had thought to interview King Dice and The Devil as well so that way all sides can share their story. However, after using some tricks of my own to get a chance to interview the Devil, I let my guard down and bet that I could get these articles published. Having forgotten how the papers are reluctant to say anything that appears to sympathize with the Devil, I guess you can say that my own pride caused my downfall. To try and keep people from coming after me, a fake report claiming I was dead got out.”

Lillia had taken off her mask, revealing her face. Aurelio was surprised at how they seemed like normal human eyes despite Lillia explaining about how her yellow ribbons turned orange when she signed the contract that bound her. Aurelio then asked, “If you know how to free yourself, why not do so?”

Lillia thought a moment. Finally, she sighed as she put the mask on, “Call it a foolish sense of honor, but I have reasons to stay at least for the two months. After all, this might be my only chance to understand what is really going on with these questions of angels.”

Aurelio glanced to the side then looked back at Lillia when he said, “I don’t think the angels are evil. Just unaware of how far they’ll go to do their duty.”

Lillia’s eyes widened as she asked, “What do you mean, Aurelio?”

Aurelio got up and said, “Honestly, I happened to have spoken with one such angel and he seemed really nice. However, I haven’t seen him in a while and recently another angel had come to the island of Gulantia saying that Beelzebub’s there. Guess there’s truth to it considering that letter, but I’m not sure who the demon is.”

Lillia was going to ask more questions, but Aurelio said that he had to head to the casino to face the challenge. Lillia asked if he was ready considering the long journey. With a wink, Aurelio then reassured Lillia that he was ready and admitted, “Honestly, I’d be alright working down here if it means working with someone like you, Lillia. It’s the least I can do to repay you for helping me out.”

Lillia felt like she was ready to blush a little. Shaking her head a bit, she then said, “A-ah… shall we head there together, then?”

Aurelio nodded, “Lead the way.”


	2. "Leaving Inkwell Isle"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After becoming acquainted with Aurelio de Abelard, Lillia meets two more visitors to Inkwell Hell and the four begin preparations to leave Inkwell Isle.

# “Leaving Inkwell Isle”

As Aurelio and Lillia were entering the main part of the Casino, they noticed King Dice seemed to be talking to two other women. These women were not from Inkwell Isle though. One was a red-haired woman with sharp blue eyes, bat-like wings, an outfit where the skirt and strapless top show far more skin than Lillia ever saw any human from Inkwell wear (and while she did briefly notice that there was a pair of shorts under the skirt, they too were extremely short), and fangs that clearly indicate a vampiric being. The other woman, who was shorter and noticeably younger (Lillia estimated 18 at oldest), wore much more modest clothing, but it seemed like she was practically wearing pajamas, reinforced by the slipper-like boots she wore and the fact that her light brown hair was messy, though Lillia couldn’t tell if her expression was due to sleepiness or apathy, and her green eyes gave no hints. Lillia kinda stopped to stare, which meant that she failed to notice the Devil creep up from behind until she felt his hand on the back of the brown vest she now wore.

She and Aurelio briefly let out an “Ah!” as the demon dragged the two towards the kitchen area. The Devil grinned, “You’re in for a challenge now, kid! Asmodeus and Belphegor came by to visit, so you’re going to have to impress them as well!”

The Devil practically threw Aurelio into the Kitchen while planting Lillia at a table that was haphazardly set up. Due to getting caught off guard, Lillia didn’t notice that the two women looked at the Devil. The blue-eyed woman said something about hearing the Devil, while the green-eyed woman smiled, “I can’t wait!” Brushing dust off her clothes, Lillia got up and said, “If you’re looking to impress the guests, then I should get this place to look its best.”

With a snap of her fingers, Lillia called some of her animated followers: a mouse-like being, a spider, a mechanical being with a camera-like head who brought a mop, and a walking miniature jukebox. Each of them brought a few imps with them and Lillia set the group to work on cleaning up the area while she went in to check up on Aurelio in the kitchen.

The instant she entered, Lillia felt her stomach growl and she was worried that she’d drool. The kitchen was filled with a number of smells that all seemed so delicious. Smells that she could only guess were of foods that might’ve been unheard of in Inkwell Isle. Maybe those who were well traveled (the ones that came to mind for Lillia were Djimmi the Great, Captain Brineybeard, and Cala Maria) might recognize some of this, but at the same time she didn’t think that they’d recognize all of it. What impressed Lillia though was that Aurelio was doing this while also trying to teach those recipes to some imps that were also drawn in by the aroma.

Lillia smiled, “I’ve got a good feeling about what you’re cooking up, Aurelio!”

Aurelio smiled back, “I just hope to make enough for everyone! I’ve never seen crowds like this eager for the things I cooked!”

As Lillia went back to sit at the table, she saw that King Dice and the two women sat at the table the Devil was at. The vampire looked at Lillia and licked her lips, “My my, I didn’t think you’d get such a cute guy to work for you, my lord.”

Lillia had a sweatdrop on her head as she replied, “I’m actually a girl. Name’s Lily.”

The vampire stood up and almost fell backwards in her chair only for the younger woman to catch her. The vampire then exclaimed, “You’re a woman?! Girl, you looked like you had that sort of light that only a proud man could bear! I can see it in your aura!”

Lillia tilted her head, “Really? I feel a little flattered. Mind telling me who you are?”

Before the vampire replied, the other woman smiled, “I’m Belle! Though here in the Underworld, I’m known by my demon name Belphegor! Nice to meet you!”

The vampire regained her composure and grinned, “Name’s Joy. I’m Asmodeus’s latest incarnation and a vampire of some notoriety in Casturia.”

The Devil glared, “That reminds me. What happened to Asmodeus and Belphegor? I haven’t heard from them in a long time and for you two to show up claiming to be them seems fishy.”

Joy seemed to have some sass as she was about to speak, but Belle trembled as she pulled out a letter and thrust it towards the Devil, trembling as she said, “M-M-M-Mephisto t-t-told me to g-g-give this to y-you, s-sir.” The Devil took the letter to Joy’s shock and he looked it over. The letter was from the demon Mephistopheles, explaining that the angel of Diligence, Gabriel, slew Belphegor at some point, but despite Gabriel’s attempts to hunt down the mortal that would be Belphegor’s reincarnation, Belle's family took her away from Acetria where she was born and moved to his domain in Tristero. Due to… unpleasant family circumstances, Belle was plagued by loneliness enough to where he was able to get her to sign a contract that would grant her the ability to animate doll-like objects using souls she gathers in exchange for her own soul. Unfortunately for him, she started to show signs of being more than just a mere mortal. He decided to try and collect her soul early if only to understand what was going on, but the incident that happened from her trying to fight back culminated in her awakening as Belphegor’s reincarnation, rendering it impossible for him to get her soul because of how intertwined the Sins of Despair (which Mephistopheles currently represented) and Sloth (which Belphegor represented) are, not to mention that the current Dark Nobles were not supposed to take each others’ souls. The Devil sighed, “At least he’s not gone for good.”

Belle frowned, “I’m sorry.”

Lillia put her hand on Belle’s shoulder as she said, “It’s not your fault, Belle. I’m sure things will be alright.”

Belle smiled as she hugged Lillia tightly, “Thanks.”

Lillia was surprised, but hugged back. Honestly, Belle seemed like a little sister sort of figure among those present. Lillia herself never really had siblings, but she remembered having two cousins who were siblings to each other and were kinda like siblings to her… but that was before she moved to Inkwell with her parents. She never had the chance to get into contact with them since… but that caused Lillia to secretly wonder: where was she from? She moved to Inkwell when she was too young to remember her birthplace all that well, and she never thought to ask her parents, not to mention that her father was uneasy about talking about it, as if it was even more dangerous than staying in Inkwell.

Once Belle let go, Joy pouted a little then spoke, “When Uriel was battling Asmodeus, he failed to kill the demon, but his soul was split in two. One remained as the one you know as Asmodeus. The other half became me. That split wasn’t going to last though due to the instability the soul was enduring. It came down to a battle between Asmodeus and I… a battle that I emerged triumphant from.”

The Devil thought a moment. If Joy was able to defeat her other half, then maybe it’s better to not fret about this. Though this talk about soul-splits seemed familiar. However, Joy then pointed out, “Unfortunately, Uriel took advantage of the internal chaos between those supporting Asmodeus and those supporting me to take over the island.”

The Devil roared, “WHAT?!”

Belle pleaded, “That’s why we came here, Mr. Satan, s-sir. We need help in retaking the lands you trusted our past selves with. Please, I’m begging you! We don’t know what to do!”

The Devil, realizing that Mephistopheles likely taught Belle how to behave around him, felt a sweat-drop on his head as he requested, “Please don’t call me by my demon name unless we’re in the Underworld proper.”

King Dice sighed, “Unfortunately, we’ve got some problems here on Inkwell as well.”

Joy raised an eyebrow, “Inkwell? Don’t you mean Av-”

The Devil interrupted, “I’m guessing that the other demons aren’t holding out that well either. That’s why they haven’t written in a long time.”

Joy huffed, “To be fair, it **is** a rather long hike to get from one part of the Underworld to another. Can’t we set up a transportation network or something?”

Devil glared, “I’m trying to get things back up and running here in Inkwell Hell as soon as I can! If Michael sees an opportunity to strike, then we’re all toast!”

Belle flinched and hid behind Lillia. Before anyone could say anything, Aurelio came back with the food. To Lillia’s relief, everyone enjoyed it. While part of it may have been due to a number of them being really hungry, even Belle who didn’t really enjoy vegetables before had to admit that with food like what Aurelio cooked, she’d eat vegetables every day if possible! Lillia then asked, “What were the vegetables like before?”

Belle then said, “Well…”

After Belle explained about the vegetables that her parents would’ve cooked, Lillia cringed, “Yuck! With cooking like that, no wonder you weren’t fond of vegetables!”

Aurelio frowned, “Such a waste of food.”

Joy attempted to seduce Aurelio, but the boy simply asked her to stop, clearly unimpressed with the vampire’s advances. Joy, noticing that Aurelio and Lillia were sitting next to each other, pouted, “Is he your boyfriend, Lily?”

Lillia exclaimed, “What?! No! We only just met very recently! Like - today kind of recently!”

King Dice, taking notice of the letter from Jonathan that Lillia recently received and seeing it was open, pointed out while looking at it, “Besides Joy, there’s another man who’s trying to get her attention.”

Snatching the letter from Dice, Lillia glared, “Excuse me, Dice, but do you see me trying to peek in on stuff you’d call private?”

King Dice remarked, “What about when you were interviewing the boss and I? At least one of those questions was rather personal, you know.”

Lillia then replied, “Sorry about that, but at least I backed off, right?”

Belle gripped the arm warmer that Joy wore on her left arm. Joy took notice and looked at Belle, knowing that something must’ve bothered her. Belle then whispered, “Is Lily Lucifer?”

Despite Belle being quiet, Lillia somehow heard mention of Lucifer and replied while pointing at The Devil, “What? Lucifer? No, isn’t the big guy over here Lucifer?”

The Devil shook his head, “I don’t know what you were whispering, Belphegor, but Lily has a point.”

Belle quietly nodded, “Oh… I see...”

Joy then added, “But hasn’t it made it harder since you’re in charge of two islands officially, but are hanging around here where Mammon is supposed to take charge?”

King Dice remarked, “The boss has his reasons for being here instead of Patira or Hubia, young lady.”

Lillia’s eyes widened (despite the yellow glow on her mask keeping her eyes from being visible to the others) as she asked, “Hubia?” Something about that name seemed familiar.

The Devil replied, “The island that Raphael, the Angel of Humility, is trying to take over. I’m supposed to be handling that place, but since I can’t be in multiple places at once, I asked a female named Gloria, the reincarnated Demon of Vainglory - Astaroth, to manage Hubia while I was absent. Because I needed to be here on Inkwell in case Michael shows up, I asked my subordinate Amon to handle Patira.”

Aurelio then spoke up, “Perhaps I can investigate what’s been happening with the islands?”

The Devil roared, “ **YOU’RE NOT GOING TO USE THAT TO ESCAPE, KID!** ”

Belle looked ready to cry, but Joy was trying to calm her down. Aurelio then said, “I have left copies of the recipes here for other staff members to use and a few imps are practicing making them. If you fear that I’ll try to go against you, then feel free to choose someone to join me so that I don’t try to backstab you.”

The Devil grinned and pulled out a contract. Dice mentally noted that this one wasn’t quite the same one as the one he tried to pull out before. Apparently the Devil had a fresh idea in mind. Aurelio looked it over. The Devil would agree not to harm his soul if Aurelio agreed to serve the Underworld… specifically noting that he was to accompany Lillia. After a brief moment, Aurelio signed it. Lillia’s eyes widened, “Aurelio, are you sure?”

Aurelio smiled, “Hey. Birds of a feather flock together, right? Looks like neither of us really had a choice when it came down to it.”

King Dice then whispered, “Boss, you sure it’s a good idea? You told me that Aurelio might replace Beelzebub as the Dark Noble of Gluttony and if Belle’s suspicions about Lily are an indication, then perhaps the two working together might make them too strong for us to handle.”

The Devil whispered, “Don’t sweat it, Dice! Those two probably won’t mind serving our cause if they can work together and that teamwork might make them strong enough to stop those angels once and for all! And if they try anything, I’ll - no - **we’ll** be waiting.”

King Dice grinned. His boss seemed to have recognized that something needs to change up due to those two cups.

After everyone ate, The Devil told Lillia and Aurelio that they are to head out to the other 7 islands of the Sins (Gulantia, Acetria, Casturia, Hubia, Humandia, Patira, and Tristero) to check up on the situation, destroy the Hays Code if it’s been set up, capture, defeat, or rout any angels that try to resist, collect any soul contracts from debtors on those islands if possible, and take notes on what’s been happening. Lillia asked in regards to the last one, “Is it to help advertise coming down to the Underworld by hyping the idea that powerful fighters are there?”

The Devil grinned, “Bingo!”

King Dice then said, “Don’t get ahead of yourselves. You’ll need a means of getting around the Underworld quickly.”

King Dice then started to call for Phear Lap, the member of the King’s Court in charge of the Derby Races. Lillia ended up revealing the plane that she used when she had to go into aerial battles. Surprisingly, it didn’t turn orange like her ribbons, but still remained yellow.

The Devil snapped his fingers and a parchment appeared. This one was basically a tutorial for flight. He then explained, “Another demon I know, Allocer, provided these blueprints. Unfortunately, this means that I’m going to have to start paying him for the planes. I told him that I didn’t think they’d be needed, but now?”

Lillia then nervously smiled, “Good thing I learned how to fly before coming down here, huh?”

The Devil nodded, “I’ll contact him and Valefar to see if they can get some shops operating in the various Hells. After all, you seemed to have left behind some of the things that helped you through the fights, right?”

Lillia face-palmed, “The Chaser and the Charge! I left them at home… wait, don’t I still have the Smoke bomb?”

Lillia checked her inventory. Unfortunately, while she had brought it with her to Inkwell Hell, it turned out that some imps had stolen that and the weapons that she left behind while she was asleep! Worse yet, those imps somehow managed to wreck them in such a way that she couldn’t really recover them. Joy laughed, “What’s the matter, Lily? Bag of Spilling?”

Lillia sighed, “If this were a videogame, then par for the course when it comes to going from one game to its sequels.”

King Dice then said, “But this isn’t a videogame that we’re currently in.”

Lillia raised an eyebrow, “You get my point though, Mr. King Dice?”

King Dice shrugged, “I guess so.”

After Aurelio, Joy, and Belle finished training with flight (even though Allocer who arrived expressed concerns about if Belle might be just a little too young to be flying planes), Lillia then asked, “Is there anything else we need to know about before we go?”

Joy pulled out a few copies of a map she had of the Underworld as she spoke, “Luckily for me, my past life took the time to map out this place. I know Mephisto warned him about if they fall into the wrong hands, but I’d rather not get lost down here! Thank you very much.”

Aurelio admitted, “This would’ve made it a lot easier!”

King Dice then remarked, “Based on the map, it seems like the island closest to here would be Gulantia.”

The Devil pulled out a parchment and handed it to Lillia as the demon stated, “When you get to Gulantia, make your way to the palace at Quesano. Beelzebub’s there.”

Lillia nodded, “Yes, sir.”

But as Lillia was about to step into her plane, she asked Aurelio, “Are you going to be alright? You did mention something happening, didn’t you?”

Aurelio smiled, “I’ll be fine. If the nobles see that I’m not trying to retake the throne, they’ll have no reason to come after me.”

Lillia then asked, “But didn’t you mention a letter from your mother that you were trying to look into?”

As the group began to fly away from Inkwell Isle and through the Underworld towards Gulantia, Aurelio replied, “I have a feeling that I’ll run into the answers sooner than I think.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, remember how in the notes at the end of Motivations that Lillia Gemma Morgana x Jonathan Bluestone wasn't likely going to happen due to events on that sequel? Well... I think it's kinda obvious on who seems to be catching Lillia's interest. ^.^; I'm starting to think that Lillia just doesn't have a good poker face.


	3. "Gulantia"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lillia arrives at Aurelio's home island of Gulantia, and the battle against the angels begins.

# “Gulantia”

The island of Gulantia has been known for being a major producer of food. The varied terrain enables easy access to ingredients that normally one would struggle finding without having to import from somewhere, and its vast network of ports and harbors encourage travel by sea. While the volcano that is the most dominant landmark has been known for intense lava flows, one particular tribe of fire elementals that reside there have learned to redirect the lava whenever the volcano does erupt in ways that help minimize casualties. This tribe used to play a major role in keeping the angels and demons from warring on the island, but ever since the Duke of Quesano, Aurelio’s adoptive father, took over territory belonging to that tribe and integrated the elementals into his domain, tensions have risen, especially in light of suspicions that someone in a high rank within the Duchy had made a deal with Beelzebub, the Dark Noble of Gluttony who claims the island as his realm, before the demon was struck down years ago.

At one of the ports near Quesano, Captain Brineybeard parked his ship. Authorities who were worried about piracy immediately came to investigate (even though the pirate had never caused trouble around that island before), but Brineybeard laughed and said, “Relax, lads! I came in peace and helping some of better standing visit your lovely land!”

The authorities were a bit confused, but then Cuphead and Baroness Von Bon Bon stepped out and onto the dock. The Baroness then asked, “Something troubling you, officers?”

One of them stammered out an apology while another quickly asked Cuphead for an autograph. Apparently that officer had a relative in Inkwell who relayed stories of the Cup Bros to Gulantia and that officer’s kids looked up to the two heroes. Cuphead happily gave the autograph. The third officer there asked what brought the two to that island. Cuphead explained that they heard of a missing person’s notice and wanted to learn more about it to see if they could help. Before anything else was said, the trio of officers lead the two to the palace. Captain Brineybeard called out that he was going to look around town to get an idea on what’s going on. Cuphead could only give a wave to indicate that he heard.

During that time, Lillia, Aurelio, Joy, and Belle arrived in Gulantia Hell. The four looked around, but there was no sign of Beelzebub. They quickly spotted Valefar (Belle and Joy recognized him) who explained to them that he couldn’t risk getting spotted if he were to set up shop on the surface. Unfortunately, it turned out that he was looking for a different currency. He explained that while angels who were defeated normally just return to the Heavens, the lower ranked ones especially have a nasty habit of dropping their halos. These bands of crystallized light were rather popular in the Underworld. So much so that they were basically the currency used by the majority of the Underworld despite The Devil’s attempts to use Gold Coins instead, which was namely used in dealings with mortals who don’t normally have access to Halos.

Lillia put her hand on her chin as she said, “I feel like there’s something awfully familiar about this…”

Valefar laughed, “Don’t think about it too much, Lily.”

However, before Lillia and Aurelio stepped onto the surface of Gulantia, Joy said that she and Belle were going to stay behind. Lily asked why and Belle said, “If too many of us gather in one place, that’ll alert the angels.”

Valefar sighed and said, “The little lady’s got a point, you know. Angels and demons are able to sense the presence of the other to some extent. However, that only works on the surface and the presence of two or more demons in close enough proximity is going to make a stronger signal. I can tell that you two aren’t exactly demons yet, but the other two are, so they’ll raise red flags. If you plan to pull this off without too much fuss, you’ll have to go without them.”

Joy then said, “Don’t worry, we’ll help when it comes to our own island.”

However, Joy remembered something and quickly said, “Actually, I’ll tag along. I doubt you have experience in diplomacy! Lily, wait!”

When Lillia and Aurelio stepped out, they saw the Duke and Duchess Consort of Quesano with a short sentient cauldron-looking thing with eyes on the lid and four small wooden legs. The Duchess Consort gasped and rushed over upon seeing Aurelio, hugging him tightly to the man’s embarrassment. After the introductions were made, Duke Abelard then asked, “Lily, is something troubling you?”

Lillia, who felt that the two who adopted Aurelio were not the people who fussed over formalities, pulled out the parchment that The Devil asked her to give to Beelzebub. Joy was barely catching up and, realizing what the woman was about to do, started racing over despite being out of breath trying to tell Lillia to zip it. Lillia, who didn’t notice the cauldron (Fondesu) looking panicked, then explained, “The Devil of Inkwell Isle sent Aurelio and I to find out what was happening on this island and to deliver this message to the one calling himself Beelzebub. Apparently he sent Aurelio to deliver a message to Inkwell Hell.”

Minister Fondesu squawked, “WHAT?!”

Duchess Abelard gasped in horror and the Duke was shocked, “Beelzebub’s been here the whole time?! No wonder Samael, the Angel of Temperance, has been more aggressive against us lately!”

Fondesu, trying to regain his composure, then said, “Please, your Majesty. There must be some sort of mistake.”

Lillia pulled out a copy she made of the message Aurelio was sent to deliver and, handing it to the Duke, explained, “This is a copy of the message that Aurelio was sent to deliver, and I saw that it bore a seal that, from my understanding, has the crest of Quesano on it.”

The Duke was mad, but it seemed like his anger was not at her, but at Beelzebub. He then said, “I’m afraid I don’t know who Beelzebub is. I heard that demon was slain by Samael years ago, but if he’s reincarnated, then that would explain this letter.”

Fondesu then scoffed, “But has that other Devil gotten so desperate that he sends a rookie?”

Lillia raised an eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure Satan sent me because he needed a capable fighter to stop the Hays Code. I don’t think he really thought about the politics involved.”

Fondesu was flabbergasted at Lillia’s response. The Duke on the other hand was amused as he said, “I can’t be surprised at this. After all, word has spread quickly that two heroes have defeated the Devil of Inkwell.”

His face turned serious though when he inquired about Aurelio. The Duke explained, “One of the Viscounts had reported that someone plotted to kill Aurelio by sending him to the Devil himself, and that if he were to survive, he’d be forced to work for him. Is it true?”

Lillia solemnly nodded, “I’m afraid so, your majesty.”

Aurelio then said, “He wanted me to accompany my friend here to handle the matter of these Hays Codes. Don’t worry, mom, dad. I know she and I were both forced to work for the demon against our wills, but she’s far nobler than the one who sent us back here. She helped me recover after I found myself in Inkwell Hell, and the least I could do is help her out in turn. Maybe someday we can figure out how to break free from his grip. I know it’s possible.”

The Duke thought a moment as the Duchess Consort put her arm around his to calm him down. Lillia could tell that the Duke was looking at her, and she could only guess that he was trying to assess her. With a sigh, the Duke answered with a patient smile, “I don’t know why you feel the need to wear that mask, Lily. But if Aurelio’s right about you, then I see no reason to doubt you. Please, take care of him for us. I know that the Devil won’t let him stay here where I can help out, and he believes in you. Please, keep him safe.”

Lillia nodded, “Yes, sir.”

Joy face-palmed as she muttered, “That Devil’s going to be rolling in his grave if he hears about this! How could she be so rude as to blow his cover?”

Duchess Consort Abelard suggested that they head inside, mentioning that two others recently came by asking about Aurelio as they were willing to help locate him. As the four headed towards the palace, Fondesu stayed behind and then headed over to Joy who was catching her breath. Fondesu huffed, “What was Satan thinking? Sending a rookie and the man I tried to get rid of back here?!”

Joy growled, “Don’t ask me, Bub! I’m especially worried about that girl Lily because everything about her aura is just screaming Lucifer!”

Lillia herself was too far away to hear Joy, but Fondesu gasped, “Impossible! We all know how the angel Lucifer fell and became Satan. Everyone who reads the stories knows about it! How can a **human** be an incarnation of Lucifer while the Devil we all know and serve still exists? And there’s no sign of Satan’s Soul splitting unlike what happened with you and Asmodeus, right?”

Joy thought a moment and then said, “You know… I can’t be sure. I never thought to read Satan’s aura, but unless something’s really off, then his aura should be bright enough that I’d risk blinding myself.”

Fondesu then said, “When you get the chance, try to look into it and report back to me. If this rookie really is him, then we’ll need to prepare ourselves. I’ve been hearing some whispers about if ever another were to try and become on par with the big boss… I don’t want to think about it!”

Joy then said, “Lucky for us, she’s still mortal, and in the Devil’s debt. You really think she’ll try to rebel against him?”

Fondesu then replied, “You never know, Joy. If she’s a mortal, then that means that the angels might try to convert her to their side. Plus, don’t forget Aurelio. Those two seem to be hitting it off pretty quickly, and surely you heard him talk about breaking them both out of the boss’s reach!”

Meanwhile, Lillia and Aurelio entered the room in the palace that the Duke and Duchess were leading them too. Lillia was stunned when she saw Cuphead and Baroness Von Bon Bon. She was trying to stay quiet so that she didn’t blow her cover (as she was wearing the mask at the time and didn’t really want to have to address the issue of what happened if she could help it). However, Aurelio, unaware of just who exactly was there or why his colleague was worried, asked, “Lillia? Is something wrong?”

Cuphead and Baroness Von Bon Bon were already approaching as the masked woman seemed awfully familiar, but to their surprise (and obviously, to Lillia’s surprise as well), for some reason, the mask that Lillia was wearing vanished when Aurelio said her actual name. Cuphead sighed, “Did you or the Devil really think that disguise was going to work forever, Lillia?”

Duke Abelard (who came to the conclusion that Lily was just a nickname) then asked, “Oh? You’ve met before?”

Lillia, a little flustered, explained, “Well… kinda. I don’t know about Aurelio, but I have met those two before.”

As the Duke and Duchess Consort left to give the four a chance to talk alone (and counting on Aurelio to help the other three if needed), Cuphead then said, “You don’t have to hide what happened from us, Lillia. Mug and I know what it’s been like to be stuck doing the Devil’s work.”

Lillia nodded. During this though, Baroness Von Bon Bon and Aurelio were talking to each other about the matter regarding the woman who they both knew as their mother and trying to confirm if they were talking about the same person. Eventually, the two decided to duel one-on-one. While Bon Bon used her trusty candy cane shotgun, Aurelio revealed what seemed like a breadstick, but functioned very much like what the Baroness of Sugarland wielded. The two seemed evenly matched, as the shots they fired kept hitting the other bullets instead of their target. Eventually, Baroness Von Bon Bon tried tossing her head, only for Aurelio to do the same. And as the heads regenerated for both of them, they stopped, stunned. Aurelio then said, “Hold up.”

Baroness Von Bon Bon noted, “The only one I know who could do that besides myself was…”

Both then whispered, “Mother…”

A servant came by with some snacks for the group. Lillia was surprised when she noticed that the youth was wearing accessories that looked like snakes. That servant, Stanley, explained that he came from the island of Acetria trying to find work to do. Aurelio remembered that Stanley, who somehow was able to communicate with snakes that normally can’t speak the way human-like beings could, had helped out when it came to spying on Aurelio’s enemies. Stanley wasn’t able to find everything, but from what he could find, none of the nobles who opposed Aurelio’s plans actually were thinking of killing Aurelio. At worst, they were thinking of imprisoning or exiling him, and most of them were mainly trying to find someone to use as an heir earlier in line to the throne than he. Aurelio nodded in acknowledgement, but he wanted to first address the matter of understanding what Baroness Von Bon Bon knew regarding that letter.

After Bon Bon explained her side of the story, Aurelio explained what he knew and showed the letter his mother gave him before she passed away, and the matter of that nightmare. Baroness Von Bon Bon then sighed, “So you signed a Deal with the Devil?”

Lillia was about to interject, but Aurelio stayed her and replied, “I’m afraid so, but due to the circumstances surrounding Minister Fondesu sending me on that errand, I wasn’t really given any choice. If not for Lillia, I’d be in much bigger trouble.”

Baroness Von Bon Bon then looked at Lillia and asked, “So what exactly happened to you after you disappeared?”

Lillia felt uneasy, but with some encouragement from Aurelio, she was able to explain the situation to Cuphead and Baroness Von Bon Bon. Cuphead then nodded, “So in this case, the souls in question are those that Beelzebub intended to collect? Why not just knock him out then destroy the contracts?”

A sinister voice then snickered, “I heard that, **Cuphead**.”

Lillia and Aurelio turned around fast as Aurelio exclaimed, “Minister Fondesu?!”

Fondesu snarled, “That’s Beelzebub to you two! What were you thinking, blowing my cover like that, Lily?!”

Lillia folded her arms, “Hey, Devil didn’t tell me who I was supposed to give the message to! Besides, they didn’t figure you out yet, did they?”

Fondesu then huffed, “They will if you keep being such a big mouth! If you don’t want me to arrange something nasty, you and Aurelio better destroy the Hays Code and acquire the 20 contracts on this island in 5 days’ time.”

Unfortunately, in Fondesu’s haste, he forgot to insist that Cuphead and Baroness Von Bon Bon stay out of the mess. As a result, thanks to checking information that Aurelio knew with the parchment that Fondesu shoved into Lillia’s hands that contained the list of the debtors with maps that Captain Brineybeard was able to acquire, the four split the work to get it done faster. Cuphead and Bon Bon went west, while Lillia and Aurelio went east. Both teams of two started from the south and went north as they collected the contracts. However, unlike the Devil’s deals, Fondesu’s were painfully obvious in that they were all themed around his Sin of Gluttony and the debtors were noticeably far weaker in terms of what their deal with the demon gave them. In fact, one of those debtors even cowered in fear upon realizing that she was fighting one of Inkwell’s former debtors as well as one of that island’s heroes. The four met up again near the northern part of Gulantia, just south of the area that Samael and the angels under his command camped at. They only set up the Hays Code recently, as the Angel of Temperance wanted to see if the mortals of Gulantia could prove themselves to not require the Hays Code before implementing it. This is partially because he worried that the fire elementals would protest if he just tried to install it right away. However, when word got out about Beelzebub, Samael decided to install it. This delay meant that the machine that was to transmit the Code was still warming up. Cuphead and Bon Bon had to get going, but they handed the 10 contracts they gathered to Lillia who stashed it with the 10 that she and Aurelio gathered. This was all on the first day. Lillia did ask Cuphead to take a message with him back to Inkwell. It was her reply to Jonathan’s letter. In that letter, Lillia explained that she is thinking of finding a way to stand against the Devil, but until the time came, she had to play along.

Later that night, as Cuphead, Bon Bon, and Captain Brineybeard were heading back to Inkwell Isle to meet up with their friends and to deliver the letter, Lillia and Aurelio attempted to infiltrate Samael’s camp to attack the Hays Code Machine. Unfortunately, the attacks made too much noise and they failed to notice that Samael was still awake. Just as they destroyed the machine, they heard a male voice who smirked, “Well, well, well, the pawn of Beelzebub and the sleeping Light-bringer. Bold of you to go so deep in your enemy's territory.”

Lillia attempted to negotiate a way out, but Samael (who didn’t seem to have much in the way of armor on) didn’t seem to want to listen. As Samael’s angels attempted to fight, Lillia and Aurelio showed that they were not as weak as Samael thought they’d be. After he stepped in, only to find himself on the brink of defeat, Lillia then said, “If you’ll let us go, we won’t bother you any more than we have already.”

Samael, who realized that he was going to have to fall back to the Heavens to recover, then glared at Lillia as he said, “There’s one thing I should tell you, Light-bringer. If you intend to betray Beelzebub to free the souls, then take him down for me. He’s the one that tried to organize the assassination.”

Aurelio and Lillia’s eyes widened, but before they could say anything more, Samael vanished in a flash of light, leaving his halo behind. Lillia picked it up and stashed it carefully. Aurelio saw a light rise up and realized that Samael would likely return. He and Lillia agreed to hurry back to Gulantia Hell.

When they got there, Fondesu then grinned, “Well, I never thought you could do it, but you managed to destroy the Hays Code and retrieve all the contracts! Hand them over, and I’ll forgive your trespass.”

Lillia looked at the contracts and Aurelio, but the two smiled, nodded, then put away the contracts as Aurelio declared, “No way, Fondesu! You were the one who tried to kill me, so we’re not going to give you those souls!”

Fondesu, realizing that they believed Samael when he told them the truth, was furious. He attempted to fight the two. Unfortunately, despite being Beelzebub’s reincarnation, Fondesu was clearly a politician and not a warrior (which most likely explains why Samael was only lightly armored - taking advantage of the demon’s weakness to capitalize on mobility). But as he was defeated, Fondesu then said something in a language that neither Aurelio nor Lillia understood, but then the Minister cursed, “Heaven will never take you back, **AURELIO DE ABELARD!!!!** ”

With that, a shadow that moved too fast for anyone to react to stabbed Aurelio in the abdomen and Fondesu’s body vanished into smoke as his soul was about to rise, only for shadowy hands to drag him down to the Underworld. All that was left of him was the cauldron that formed his body with a seal representing Beelzebub painted on it.

Lillia immediately raced to Aurelio to make sure that he was alright. Aurelio was still alive, but to their shock, that seal representing Beelzebub briefly glowed on the spot where the shadow stabbed him only to disappear. Aurelio felt dizzy, but he and Lillia were still able to destroy the contracts. But just as they destroyed the last one, Valefar blew a puff of smoke as he calmly observed, “Such a waste to just free the souls that now fell under your reign, kid. Or should I say, Beelzebub?”

Aurelio shivered as his eyes widened and he turned to face the demonic shopkeeper. The young man then asked, “What are you saying, sir?”

Valefar smirked, “Report back to Satan. He’ll give you the details. As for Gulantia, don’t worry about it. With Samael defeated, the angels will be disorganized and that should give time to stabilize conditions here.”

Lillia then said, “He’ll be back though.”

Before Lillia could ask any questions, Valefar smiled, “My, my, I’ve never seen a mortal that isn’t a witch take an Archangel’s Halo before. No wonder Lord Satan saw potential in you. If you hand it over, I think I can make something potent out of it.”

Lillia pulled out the halo that Samael dropped, but before Valefar could get close enough, the halo suddenly broke into pieces of light that circled around Lillia before entering her body. Sharp-eyed observers would’ve noticed that the orange on her outfit changed slightly in a direction leading back towards the yellow it originally was at. Valefar sighed, “So much for that. Never seen a halo break like that before. Let alone an Archangel’s halo.”

Belle however talked the two into taking the night to rest before they make the trek back to Inkwell. Lillia agreed namely to get her notes together. This was a major story to write. As Aurelio and Lillia were settling in, Valefar did look over some records and remarked, “Then again, maybe it was best to set them free. Fondesu seemed to be seeking quantity over quality when it came to souls.”

Lillia then asked, “What do you mean?”

Valefar smirked, “While some souls are seen as more valuable than others on their own merit, a soul contract can affect the quality of it. Demons like myself tend to call it refining the soul. Satan may have more experience, but right now I have to say that the master of refining souls is the Dark Noble of Despair, Mephistopheles.”

Meanwhile, when Cuphead delivered Lillia’s message to Jonathan Bluestone, the reporter asked Cuphead about what was happening. Cuphead mentioned Aurelio, and Jonathan snickered, “Okay. I get it. Cute, emotionally supportive person ends up working with her and so she’s starting to understand what it’s like to fall in love. I understand, so I won’t push.”

Cuphead and Baroness Von Bon Bon were confused, as Bon Bon pointed out that it seemed awfully quick for either of them to fall in love, wouldn’t it? Jonathan then said, “Sometimes you catch signs that the lovebirds themselves don’t notice.”

Jonathan’s pet Jack squawked, “Awk! Lovebirds don’t notice. Lovebirds don’t notice. Awk!”

Elsewhere, King Dice came back with a few messages for The Devil. The Devil was looking them over. One was from Amon admitting that he and the angel he was fighting were caught in a stalemate to where they were ready to consider a ceasefire temporarily. Amon thought about it for the sake of being able to provide aid to the other islands but wanted to wait for the Devil’s approval before going ahead with it. The Devil replied that there was no need for it because he had gotten two agents who were working to recapture the other islands from the angels. Another was from Mephistopheles asking about the unusual light that rose from Gulantia, pointing out that it looked to be bright enough to be an Archangel forced to respawn in the Heavens. The last message was less a letter and more the surprise appearance of Fondesu’s soul, stuck in a form that surprised King Dice and the Devil. If Fondesu was still the Dark Noble of Gluttony, then he should’ve arrived as a demon, but here he was in the form of a soul-ghost that could turn into an imp, but not a full-fledged demon. King Dice then asked, “Did you curse anyone in Enochian, Fondesu?”

Fondesu huffed, “That boy Aurelio backstabbed me and destroyed the contracts of the souls I was owed. Why?”

The Devil’s eyes widened and he looked like he was taking a moment to let the words sink in. King Dice face-palmed, “Fondesu, you fool! Ya just gave that kid Aurelio your demonic title! No wonder that contract we had on him just burned on its own just like that!”

King Dice snapped his fingers to prove his point, but Fondesu flinched in fear that a card was going to fly into his face. He never fought King Dice before, but he knew that there had to be a reason for one who was suffering an Angel’s binding spell to still be the Devil’s Right Hand Man.

The Devil roared in laughter, “So that’s what happened!”

The Devil simply waved Fondesu away, non-verbally telling the Minister to standby at the Casino for further orders since Fondesu’s soul was condemned the moment he awakened as Beelzebub’s reincarnation. Once the Devil calmed down from the laughter, he told Dice to prepare for when Aurelio and Lillia returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I think it's noticeable how Valefar seems to behave in ways reminiscent of Rodin from Bayonetta. Considering how Lillia was going to be fighting angels, it seemed like a fitting thing to reference.


	4. "Returning from Gulantia"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's going to happen when Lillia and Aurelio return from Gulantia, now with Aurelio seemingly cursed pretty badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, I had to rewrite major chunks of this chapter because I was referencing Bayonetta, but the Bayonetta references started to derail the story and I had to put a stop to it!

# “Returning from Gulantia”

As Lillia and Aurelio were heading back to Inkwell Hell, they decided to ask Joy and Belle about the thing that Fondesu shouted before his soul went down to the Underworld. Joy then smirked, “I didn’t hear what he said, but it sounds like he spoke Enochian. It does take a bit to learn the language, but the Dark Nobles should start to catch onto it quickly enough and both angels and demons speak it fluently. We just normally choose to speak the mortal languages because Enochian can be used to cast spells, making ordinary conversations a bit awkward.”

Lillia and Aurelio looked at each other. Neither knew the language. Belle then asked, “Aurelio? Are you alright? You seem different.”

Aurelio sighed, “Minister Fondesu sent some sort of curse at me.”

Joy took the moment to look at Lillia’s aura and she glared, “Are you sure you’re not Lucifer?”

Lillia shook her head, “Why’s everyone mistaking me for the Devil?! First you and Belle, now even the Angels started calling me Light-bringer! What the heck is with the mistaken identity?!”

Belle hummed, “I thought I heard some books claimed that Lucifer and Satan were two different beings, with Lucifer being a human king that claimed to be a god.”

Lillia tilted her head, “Is that so?”

Belle nodded, “Yeah! Maybe everyone was mistaken and that Pride and Wrath were two different people altogether!”

Aurelio shook his head, “But if that story is true, then how could that king behave like a demon? Wouldn’t Satan try to get rid of the one who might be able to challenge his right to the throne?”

Still, despite realizing that they should’ve known better, Aurelio and Lillia were caught by surprise when The Devil was waiting for them in the Underworld rather than Inkwell Hell.

The Devil then said, “So, what’s the news?”

Lillia reported, “We destroyed the Hays Code Device. Samael apparently waited before setting it up so damages were minimal. Couldn’t capture any angels, but a number had been defeated and thus forced to retreat, including Samael himself. Apparently, he wasn’t wearing much armor because he counted on Fondesu being more of a politician than a warrior. Valefar said that with Samael defeated, the angels left on Gulantia will be disorganized for a while.”

The Devil then asked, “And the contracts?”

Aurelio replied, “We had reason to think that the souls were not in fit condition based on the sorts of deals Fondesu Beelzebub was making with his debtors. As such, we decided to free them so that way if they ever think of coming back, we can try to make them into something stronger.”

The Devil smirked, “That’s a rather elaborate story, kid, but…”

Before Lillia or Aurelio could react, the Devil lifted Aurelio by his shirt collar and King Dice summoned cards to form a barrier to keep Lillia from helping her friend. She still was trying to push past it though. The Devil then said, “I know that’s just an elaborate cover-up. You and Lily still wish to be the ‘heroes’ don’t you?”

Aurelio was confused, “What do you mean?”

The Devil’s eyes changed shape and Aurelio saw a vision. As that vision played out, the Devil explained, “Demons may have originally come from fallen angels before it was discovered that mortal souls could become imps and demons, but since Fondesu named you as his Successor to the Throne of Gula - as the new Dark Noble of Gluttony - it’s impossible for Heaven to take your soul, so why bother trying to be the hero?”

Aurelio was shocked to the point where he stopped struggling. The Devil saw this, grinned, and dropped the young man who fell to the floor. King Dice saw this and lowered the barrier, allowing Lillia who also heard the explanation to race over to her friend. Looking at Lillia, the Devil then darkly chuckled, “Even if you manage to free yourself from my service, Lillia, do you really want to abandon your new friend whose soul was condemned?”

Lillia shivered at the fact that The Devil called her by her actual name instead of Lily like he normally did. Lillia then asked, “Has anyone ever tried to prove you wrong, Satan?”

The Devil smirked, “Some of the others were starting to get suspicious of you, my dear. If their suspicions are true, then you won’t be able to challenge my statement this time.”

Unbeknownst to the others, Joy and Belle peeked in and Joy took a moment to look at The Devil’s aura. Her eyes widened and she left to find Fondesu, leaving Belle confused. As Belle was looking in the direction that Joy ran off to, King Dice picked up the young Dark Noble and asked, “Now why were you listening in, Belphegor?”

Belle squirmed a bit as she accidentally shouted, “It was Joy’s idea!”

The Devil face-palmed when he heard that. Pulling out a particular parchment, the Devil then said, “Normally, I would’ve thought of asking you two to head to Acetria next, but after what Joy did, I better get her back to Casturia soon. Bit of a shame. I’ve never seen anyone pull off singing and dancing like she could.”

Lillia asked about the article based on what happened in Gulantia, and The Devil looked at her and asked, “Did you expect me to have you go right away? Of course I want you to finish up that article and get it published first! I just wanted to let you know where you’re going to go next.”

As Lillia took the parchment and she and Aurelio started to head to the workshop, Lillia spoke (despite meaning only for Aurelio to hear), “Geez, I hope Satan doesn’t start acting like my dad.”

The Devil laughed, “You’d be surprised at how many imagined me as a father figure!”

Lillia raised an eyebrow, “Mind if someone conducts a survey?”

With a shooing motion, the Devil said, “Later. Get the article done first.”

As Lillia and Aurelio got to the workshop, they saw that Belle, Joy, Dice, and even Fondesu (who turned into an imp but was still recognizable) somehow got there first. King Dice smirked, “If we’re going to be drawing people in, we’ll need to advertise the place better.”

Lillia and Aurelio were shocked at what the other four brought with them to add to the paper. Dice had made ads showcasing various parts of the Devil’s Casino, but cleverly chose to highlight the new additions, which included the arcade, the cafeteria, and a concert-hall like area where performances were being held. The last of them was added by Joy, and Dice pointed out that Belle had an idea, but figuring out how to get it to work was tricky. Belle grinned, “I told Mr. King Dice that maybe we could make a hotel to tie it all together! Give places for weary souls to rest and whatnot?”

Lillia was trying to suppress a laugh, but couldn’t stop herself from asking, “In other words, a literal **hell hotel**?”

Aurelio broke down chuckling at the pun. Fondesu lowered his head, “How many of us are pungeon masters?”

The imp face-palmed at the thought that he just made a pun as well. Lillia looked over the ads that Dice drew and admitted that she was impressed by how well drawn they were, asking if he was secretly an artist. King Dice simply shrugged.

As for the others? Joy drew some silly comic ideas, Belle made a few Do-It-Yourself guides, and Fondesu apparently decided to showcase recipes that Aurelio didn’t show. Fondesu wasn’t really thrilled with having to help Lillia with adding stuff to the paper, but The Devil and Dice ordered him to do what he can to help, including handling the kitchen whenever Aurelio was out on a mission. Lillia looked at the list of drinks that Dice compiled when trying to figure out what to include and asked, “Must every drink by alcoholic?”

Dice was a bit surprised, and Fondesu pointed out that normally The Tipsy Troop was in charge of drinks and, well, all of them were based off of alcoholic beverages. Lillia then said, “Yes, but I know that a number of people, women in particular, but some men as well, might be worried about things like tampering with food and drink. Something that I think Rumor Honeybottoms all but stated in my interview with her. I think including some virgin drinks and mocktails might give those people a little reassurance that they have a safer option.”

As King Dice hummed thinking about it, Belle sighed, “That is a good point. I’m too young to be drinking that stuff.”

King Dice remarked, “But this is a casino-”

Lillia almost glared a bit as she inquired, “Then why didn’t you stop Cuphead and Mugman?”

But immediately Lillia lost that expression to confusion as she asked, “Wait. How old are those cups? Cause if they’re of legal age, then my point is moot.”

King Dice face-palmed, “It’s hard to tell with those two and I failed to pay attention until it was too late. I thought I left someone at the door to keep an eye out…”

Fondesu sighed, “No offense, King, but if it was one of those other imps, then they wouldn’t care if it was a kid or grown up.”

Joy hummed as she said, “Let’s just say that those two cups had to grow up fast. Wouldn’t having only one day to save yourselves do that to you?”

Dice then said, “Besides, the arcade does have its own entrance, so… alright. I’ll concede to including some of those drinks, but I’m going to ask you guys to locate the recipes if you can.”

Aurelio smiled as he pulled out a scroll, “No problem! The recipes I left behind already had some of those recipes in there and here are a few more!”

King Dice took the scroll that Aurelio handed him and asked, “How are you so well prepared for these cooking-related things, Aurelio?”

Fondesu chimed in, “Forgive me, Mammon. Ever since the Duke incorporated non-food sentient beings into his lands, we’ve had to work to impress them on the cuisine side. As Aurelio was next in line of succession, I had him learn to be prepared on that front just in case tensions rise again.”

Dice looked at Fondesu and sighed, “You don’t have to call me by my demon name down here, you know. Besides, you never know when an angel might be bold enough to try and do something if they know who the demons are.”

Lillia then asked, “What do you mean?”

King Dice then frowned, “Once, back in the early days of my serving The Devil, Inkwell Hell was attacked by two of the Archangels. The Angel of Patience, Azriel, and Michael who’s not only the Angel of Charity, but also the leader of that group. They came down once before in the event that ended the demon Mammon, but they couldn’t defeat the boss definitively. They tried again thinking that a two-on-one duel would stop him once and for all. I intervened which drove the two off, but they somehow recognized me for who I once was and used a binding spell on me. Can’t access my demonic powers without using the halo that belongs to the angel whose virtue opposes my sin, but I’ve been able to handle without those powers.”

Aurelio then said, “That reminds me, do you know anything about an Archangel’s halo breaking and being absorbed into another’s body?”

Kind Dice’s eyes widened, “Which one of you two was it that took it?”

Lillia spoke, “I was.”

Dice then furrowed his brow and said, “You best be careful, Lily. It’s rare enough for anyone to take an Archangel’s Halo like that and no one knows what happens if someone absorbs too many of them. I know that’s how one breaks a binding spell, but it needs the right halo or it won’t work.”

Before Lillia could say anything, Dice, Fondesu, and Belle left. Joy who stuck around then covered her eyes and said, “I think Belle’s onto something when she thought you were Lucifer.”

Lillia then asked, “Do you really think it’s possible? Wouldn’t the Demon of Pride who fell from the Heavens prefer something closer to his image for his reincarnation?”

Joy grinned, “Nobody really knows how the reincarnation mechanic works, Lily. Even if you try to deny it, I can sense it in your aura that you’re not ordinary in terms of your soul. Besides, one trick that mortals somehow learned is that those who are the reincarnations of demons react in one manner or another to hearing their demon name without fail.”

With that, the Dark Noble of Lust left as well. Lillia sighed as she began to work on her article. She had completely forgotten to interview people on Gulantia, so it was really more of a news round up. On the other hand, she figured that it’d be a good idea to practice different kinds of articles. As Lillia was getting her article ready, she began to wonder if it was a good idea to keep hacking the existing publishers. Luckily for her, the animated minions under her command (who she never really trained for fighting, but rather for gathering and they knew how to pass along information) were willing to volunteer in distributing this paper. Aurelio pointed out the issue of if people would want to go for this new paper and what to fill it with. Lillia smiled and asked about the idea of allowing readers to write in their own stories to submit to the paper, and include an ad for potentially hiring people to help out. Aurelio liked the idea, but pointed out the need to get the big guy’s approval.

The Devil himself was uneasy about this idea, especially since Lillia and Aurelio came to the conclusion of making it more of a magazine than a newspaper, because it could lead to sabotage or Lillia no longer needing the things given to her in the contract (making it more likely that she’d try to find some way out of the deal once the two months were up). On the other hand, Valefar was all in on this idea, as he and Allocer discussed the matter and thought that it’d be a sneaky way to introduce Halos to the surface’s economy. The Devil on the other hand hoped that it would get more parts of the Underworld to use surface currencies. Either way, the plan was approved. Better still is that Allocer and Valefar were able to provide stories from some of the other demons that were still hanging around in the Underworld, allowing for a more robust first issue of the new publication. As for the name? Lillia was considering a few ideas, including UnderNews, UnderNews Network, UnderTimes, and The Underworld News Network or Underworld Times. Her main concern though was that the names she was coming up with were either too bland or too cheesy.

Eventually, she started discussing this with Aurelio and the two decided on calling it **Revelation Review** . As Aurelio pointed out, most areas of the Surface seem to have a thing for alliterations in the names, with Inkwell Isle being almost famous for it. By contrast, the Heavens and Underworld didn’t seem to have it, with Belle confirming that the most popular magazine in the Underworld last she checked was **Destruction Chronicle** and Aurelio mentioning that he remembered spotting a copy of **Holy Illustrated** when he visited Hubia some time ago. Lillia then asked, “That reminds me: do you remember anything about Hubia?”

Aurelio thought a moment and smiled, “I remember some of the townsfolk speaking high praises for the light-shows that happen around festival times. Lanterns, candles, fireworks, the place can get so bright, you’d lose track of if it was night or day!”

Lillia thought a moment. It felt like the sound of fireworks should have ringed familiar to her, but she wasn’t sure, especially since she didn’t really remember major fireworks displays on Inkwell. Choosing to set her thoughts aside, Lillia went to finish up this first edition of Revelation Review.

It was going to take a few days because everyone was worried about how well it was going to turn out. In the meantime though, The Devil yelled at Aurelio for something and marched back towards his office. Lillia asked what it was about, but Aurelio simply laughed, “He caught me reading the latest issue of **Hero’s Herald** which happens to have Cuphead and Mugman on the cover!”

Lillia’s eyes widened, “You’ve read Hero’s Herald too?! Aw man, it’s been too long since I got to read that magazine!”

Aurelio smiled, “Yeah! Apparently, I still have a subscription ongoing. Mom and Dad must’ve realized that I would be down here, as they apparently had the delivery forwarded here.”

Belle then asked, “So what’s Hero’s Herald about?”

Lillia smiled, “Hero’s Herald is a magazine that focuses on the stories of heroes all over the world! Past and present, as well as giving advice on how to be a hero yourself, even with the absence of villains to fight. It was such a big inspiration for me growing up. It’s just such a shame that my dad forbid me from renewing my subscription because he claimed that it was teaching kids to be fighters instead of vouching for peace. But that’s not true! I know there are some issues that discuss heroes who are such **because** of their pacifistic approach!”

Aurelio had already finished reading the magazine, so he handed it to Belle when she clearly showed interest in it. Belle then asked, “Was that what inspired you to work for the paper? Who was your favorite hero back when you read it?”

Lillia, realizing that Belle saw her without the mask, smiled as she thought back, “By far the one I liked to read most about was Coat-Owl Dave, a reporter in his own right and always ready to explore ruins and temples and dark places whether searching for hidden truths or helping out those in need. He always stood out to me because whenever there were villains involved, he would often go out of his way to help them turn their lives around away from villainy. This despite sometimes getting into conflict with authorities because of it.”

Lillia sighed, “Though last I heard, it's possible that he retired.”

Belle giggled, “Was he using a Ribbon-whip like you did?”

Lillia laughed, “Actually, he wielded a lasso, but he has used it like a whip occasionally.”

Pointing a finger at Lillia, Belle grinned, “I knew it! I knew you had gotten the idea from another hero!”

Lillia laughed as she held her hands in the air, “You got me, Belle! You got me!”

King overheard the conversation and smiled. He vaguely remembered hearing the name Coat-Owl Dave, but he never met the guy. Dice recalled that before he entered Inkwell Hell, one of the places he visited had talked about that hero. For Lillia to have been inspired by him seems to explain some of her own beliefs and actions.

However, King Dice then frowned, for he just remembered that Valefar asked him to forward a message to Lillia. Clearing his throat to get the attention of the others, the one Representing the Sin of Greed then said, “Valefar’s paging ya, Lily. Better go see what he wants before you head to Casturia.”

Lillia excused herself as she followed Dice to where Valefar was waiting. Not far inside the Underworld, Lillia saw Valefar with Joy and two others. One she quickly realized was Allocer since he was tinkering around with Joy’s aircraft - probably some maintenance work. The other confused her, for it looked like an angel of some sort, but that wasn’t likely… unless…

King Dice exclaimed, “You managed to get Azazel to show up, Vale?!”

Lillia’s eyes widened. She thought she heard mention of Azazel - the fallen angel who was famous for making weapons.

Valefar’s face was serious as he pointed out, “I told Azazel about how Lillia somehow absorbed Samael’s dropped halo. We both knew that as soon as word reaches the other angels, they’ll stop playing nice the moment they see her.”

Lillia, a little nervous, spoke, “I-it’s n-nice to meet you, s-sir.”

Azazel smiled, “Nice to meet you too.”

Dice had to leave to make sure things didn’t go awry at the casino. Then again, Valefar looked as though he didn’t want Dice around to hear what he was going to say anyway, as he and Azazel headed to a different part of the Underworld with Lillia following. They stopped at what seemed like a simple bar area that Azazel and Valefar ran, but they quickly revealed that it also had a weapons shop and arena. Lillia’s eyes widened, but Azazel pointed out, “That ribbon-whip of yours was only meant to handle those with at most loose connections to the Heavens and Underworld, such as those who made a deal with either of those realms. It’s going to break if you keep using it against the higher-ranked angels.”

Lillia then asked, “How do you know, Azazel?”

Azazel chuckled, “Because I designed it, silly. Back when the Surface and Underworld teamed up to drive the Angels out of Inkwell Isle, I had to design a number of weapons to help equip those who can’t normally battle angels. Sadly, most of them were lost when the Nephilim were hunted down. Such a shame, that. The Nephilim were the ones who used them the most. Guess you can say they were my best customers.”

Lillia nodded. Valefar then said, “So point is, Lillia, Azazel has agreed to help supply you with better weapons. I know you’ve got halos that you can spend-”

Azazel interrupted by pointing out, “I’ve got a gift for you though. Consider it thanks for stopping the Hays Code.”

Lillia had taken off the ribbons she used when Azazel pointed out how the ribbons would break, but as she put them away, she saw that Azazel had pulled out a package and handed it to her. When she opened it, she saw that it contained what seemed to be a flail.

This flail was made with a chain that was clearly enchanted. She looked at the golden thing but was fairly certain that it was made of a sterner alloy. To her amazement, it looked like it could be disguised as a necklace even despite the pendant that looks like a miniature version of the heavy-hitting part of the flail. Azazel explained that if she can handle it, her abilities should be able to manipulate the chain just as much as she’s able to handle the Ribbon-whip, and that at the user’s command, the pendant attached will expand in size to match the weapon and that it will lock into its proper place.

Lillia, a little surprised, then asked, “How did you know about that ability?”

Azazel smirked as he replied, “Devil told me. And before you ask how I got that information from him, let’s just say he still owes me some Halos for some things he purchased from me some time back. I told him that I’d be willing to take information to help pay off the debt, but it’d be on my terms.”

Lillia’s eyes widened, “Satan owes you?!”

Azazel laughed a little, “Ha ha! Yeah, but the truth of the matter is - I don’t understand why it is that he doesn’t have any halos on hand. You’d think he have some, but instead, he tried to use gold coins. I told him that I can’t accept it so long as my business is stuck in the Underworld where Halos are valued more.”

Lillia nodded. She decided to try the new flail. She couldn’t help but look at the Picasso Jasper Heart that was in the center of the pendant as she picked up the chain. She felt an energy flow from her hand through the chain and culminating in the pendant that attached itself to the end and expanded to a small, but decent size. The Jasper somehow ended up in the center of the spherical shape, but Lillia didn’t mind. As she tried twirling it, she had to use her other hand to block the orb because it was going to hit her head otherwise.

Valefar chuckled as he suggested that she go to the Arena to train. Lillia jumped at the chance. As Lillia followed Azazel to practice with the new flail, The Devil came by to speak to Valefar. Valefar was a little surprised, but when he asked the Devil if something was bugging him, the Devil of Inkwell replied, “It’s that girl, Lillia. How is it that she’s so oblivious as to who she really is?”

Valefar tilted his head, then replied with a sigh, “If you’re thinking of what I think you’re thinking, Satan, then I’m afraid I can’t answer that. But if that is true, then someone’s going to have to ask you about how it’s even possible.”

The Devil almost glared a little as he replied, “And I told you already that I’m not ready to talk about it. If she dies, then there’s no point, is there?”

Valefar simply shrugged, “Well, I’m sure Azazel would love to hear that if you ever are ready for it. Might be enough information to pay off your little halo debt.”

The Devil chuckled a little as he remarked, “Well, wouldn’t that be the day.”

As he got up to leave, Satan then said, “If you get the chance, tell her that Asmodeus reported that Uriel who took over Casturia has been seen with armor enchanted with the Earth Element, so electricity won’t help out.”

Valefar nodded, “Sure thing.”

But as the Devil was leaving, he thought to himself, ‘Way to go, Mephisto! You tried to cheer me up with a made up prophecy to bring in another soul to my side, but you instead brought in the one I hoped would **never** resurface again!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm... methinks that it's a bit of a running gag for Lillia to be a bit oblivious to some of these things that others have noticed.  
> Also, credit to fantasynamegenerators for helping me figure out these paper names! Fun fact: Destruction Chronicle actually cropped up twice in a row when I first started trying to use it to figure out a name. I found it silly enough to where I wanted to include that name. A bit of a Development Gag, if you will. =)


	5. "Casturia"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Off Lillia and Aurelio go to the next island. How will things fare now that they're heading to a place that neither of the two call home?

# “Casturia”

Joy huffed a little as she was waiting. It had been about a couple of weeks since arriving at Inkwell (though it arguably was, what, seven months since she left home?) and while Revelation Review seemed to have been lucky in getting some attention, the Dark Noble of Lust wasn’t exactly happy about having to help out with the Concert Hall she set up, but since Joy was old enough to be a legal adult, King Dice wasn’t going to let her freeload. As Joy grumbled in the Underworld near Inkwell Hell about having to wait for Aurelio and Lillia before she can head back home, she then shouted, “Who does that Block-Headed Mammon think he is?!”

Joy felt a shiver down her spine when she heard a familiar voice start to sing. King Dice had headed down to the Underworld and heard Joy’s shouting (and demons who hear their demon name seem to be under some obligation to respond). King Dice decided to respond by singing his song. After he finished singing, Dice smirked as he asked, “Does that answer your question, Asmodeus?”

Joy turned as she pouted, “Don’t be so smug! I heard you lost to mere **mortals!** ”

Dice raised an eyebrow as he pointed out, “And you’ve had better luck against Uriel?”

Clenching her fist, Joy was about to say something when she heard Lillia call out, “Sorry to keep ya waiting!”

Joy then saw the necklace that Lillia now wore and almost literally froze in place when she saw the Picasso Jasper on its pendant. Lillia had told Aurelio about what happened before getting there, but the two were confused at Joy’s reaction. Belle, who also saw the necklace, clung to King Dice’s left sleeve as she exclaimed, “That necklace… Lily, how’d you get your hands on Sol, the Flail of the Light-bringer?”

Lillia, clearly confused, asked, “Soul?”

With a chuckle, Dice remarked, “I don’t think Belphegor meant the kind of soul that the boss collects.”

Belle nodded, “Sol as in Sun. That was a flail said to have been crafted by the angel Azazel himself to help the fallen angel who set everything in motion: the Light-bringer known as Lucifer.”

Lillia sighed, “Don’t ask me. Azazel somehow got word of my previous accomplishments on Gulantia and he and Valefar gave this to me saying that the angels won’t play nice the next time I meet them.”

Dice took a look at the flail and put one hand on his chin as he admitted, “Yeah, that should be powerful enough to handle archangels easily.”

Joy then grumbled, “I’m jealous! What’s with Inkwell getting all the good stuff!”

Lillia tilted her head as she pointed out, “You’re not Leviathan.”

Joy tripped before pointing her finger at Lillia and saying, “Well, you’re going to have to listen to my orders the minute we enter Casturia Hell!”

To Joy’s dismay, she found that Lillia and Aurelio had hopped into their planes and started to fly off without her! As the Dark Noble of Lust flew off after the other two, Joy was shouting things that Dice decided to tune out. By this point though, Belle had told Dice about her suspicions about if Lucifer and Satan were always two different individuals, to which Dice said that he needed to think about it a bit more. Belle then asked again, and Dice replied with a sigh, “After giving it some thought, you might be onto something, but then again, if the soul-split theory is true, then it might explain why the boss never seems to have any halos on hand.”

When the group arrived at Casturia, Lillia and Aurelio were already discussing the question of how to handle the Hays Code there, since it sounded like it was already up and running. Joy huffed as she pointed out that she had about 40 souls to collect, but when Aurelio questioned it, the vampire winked as she replied, “Let’s just say I used more naughty means.”

Lillia felt uneasy. In all honesty, she almost felt sorry for Uriel due to how likely it was that he had to see some unpleasantly awkward things during his fight against Asmodeus. However, she remembered that she had to deal with the Hays Code machine first. Valefar sighed as he remarked, “That is not how you refine souls, young lady.”

When they got to the entrance to the Surface, they only saw a wall. Joy was clearly too irritated to think as she was shouting stuff about angels sealing the Hell and that they were too late. Aurelio however pointed out to Lillia that it looked like it was weak enough that a strong blow might break it down. Lillia nodded and pulled out Sol. After focusing a bit, Lillia sent the weight of the flail at the wall (seems like it was enchanted such that it was much lighter for the wielder compared to the impact it could have), breaking it and revealing a few angels who were about to leave. Apparently, they thought their job was done, but when they heard the wall crumble behind them, they turned only to see the trio. One of them exclaimed, “Asmodeus is back!”

Joy, realizing that the door was opened, then shouted, “Yeah, I’m back and ready to take my home back!”

Another angel gulped, “Oh no, Beelzebub and the Light-Bringer too?!”

Aurelio sighed, “We’re just here to stop the Hays Code.”

Joy however, contradicted by saying, “NO. We also need to collect those souls!”

Lillia saw one of the angels fleeing and shouted, “Hey, wait!”

But she was stopped by some of the other angels who blocked her way. As Aurelio and Joy were too busy arguing with one another, Lillia (who stepped out of Casturia Hell) was trying to fight her way past the angels. A number were defeated and dropped their halos (halos that flew towards Lillia but went into her inventory instead of being absorbed like the Archangel Halo she acquired on Gulantia) as they retreated to the Heavens, but eventually, Lillia decided to make a break for it and hoped that they wouldn’t attack the others. As she fled, Aurelio took notice and prepared himself for a fight just in case. One angel who stayed behind was about to attack Aurelio, but another one then said, “No, let those two be. Uriel told us about what happened to Samael and ordered us to focus on the Light-bringer.”

With that, the other angels left. Aurelio had enough of bickering with Joy since it was going nowhere and Lillia had gone on ahead. Joy simply sat in Casturia Hell grumbling, “Why did The Devil have to send those two?”

Valefar smiled, “They’re the ones to get it done, Asmodeus.”

Joy glared, “Oh, knock it off!”

Aurelio took the time to talk to some of the people who apparently owed their souls to Joy. As it turned out, many were afraid because Uriel had left a curse: should the Hays Code Machine break, any who are still indebted to the demon of Lust will suffer a plague. Aurelio offered to free the contracts, but they hesitated. Despite Aurelio’s appearance and honest intentions, they knew something was off.

Meanwhile, things didn’t look so good for Lillia. Sure she was able to fight off the angels that were chasing her, but with how long it took and how far she travelled, she was exhausted and hungry (having forgotten to eat earlier). As she was trying to navigate the forested area that she found herself in, Lillia failed to notice something above her, and soon a net landed on top of her. Although she got the net off of her, she ended up stumbling into another trap, this one more of a cage that she couldn’t open. Before she could register what was going on, a sleeping spell was cast. Before Lillia fell asleep, she thought she sensed an Archangel’s presence.

Back where Aurelio was, he ended up encountering Mugman who was able to convince the debtors that Aurelio’s intentions were true. This enabled them to collect the contracts without having to fight, but when they got back to Casturia Hell, Joy was outraged. She shouted that the machine was still up and running. However, she failed to notice Mugman due to focusing on Aurelio and since Mugman had all of the contracts in his inventory (having planned it out with Aurelio beforehand), the heroic mug took the opportunity to destroy the contracts in the fires of Casturia Hell. When Joy heard the sound of burning paper, she was horrified. Mugman managed to slip away unnoticed and Aurelio escaped by pointing out that Lillia was likely in trouble because of the argument, and the Devil wouldn’t be pleased if he found out that Joy’s complaining played a big part in losing the ace up his sleeve that he needed. As he ran off, Aurelio then said, “Consider the loss of those souls the price to pay for letting Lily be put in danger!”

When Lillia finally woke up, she had no idea on where she was, but she sensed angels everywhere. Finally, a male voice then said, “So you’re finally awake, Lucifer.”

Lillia’s eyes widened as she looked to see the angel that (despite not really recognizing any individual angels) she instantly recognized, “Uriel? What’s going on?”

Uriel pulled out a sword and pointed it at her, “Don’t play the fool with me, demon.”

Lillia backed up as she pleaded, “I don’t understand! Why is it that everyone’s calling me Lucifer? Am I not just a human?”

Uriel was surprised as he asked, “You really don’t know?”

Lillia shook her head, “I swear on my soul that I don’t know.”

As Uriel put his sword away, he then sighed, “This is getting complicated. So what are you calling yourself?”

Lillia then said, “I’m Lillia G. Morgana, but you can just call me Lillia if you want.”

Uriel seemed to focus on that name, “Morgana… the family that left Hubia that day.”

Lillia’s eyes widened as she asked, “Hubia?”

Uriel face-palmed, “Satan left you in the dark, Lucifer.”

Lillia shook her head, “How could I possibly be Lucifer? Aren’t Lucifer and Satan the same demon?”

Uriel then said, “Oh, they never told you? The story’s far more complex than that.”

Aurelio and Mugman had to fight or sneak their way through, but eventually they got close enough in the angels’ camp to listen in on the conversation. Uriel, despite sensing Beelzebub, explained, “It is true that Lucifer and Satan were once the same being. However, from what Raphael learned, it seemed like the fallen angel was in two minds about what to do regarding the Underworld. The part that you know as the demon Satan wanted to take revenge against those like myself who had to cast him out of the Heavens. The other half, the half that embodies his angel-light, wanted to prove us wrong by making the Underworld even more of a Heaven than the Heavens themselves. This conflict somehow split their souls. While they should’ve become powerless shells, Satan somehow managed to stabilize himself, and more than once Lucifer had tried to manifest a separate body. It seems like he finally succeeded in that endeavor.”

Lillia was shaking, “How could this be? Am I really-? Is this true?”

Uriel sighed, “Angels and Demons can sense it, Lillia. Furthermore, that flail you wield was something made specifically to only be wielded by whoever’s burdened with the role of Representing the Sin of Pride.”

Lillia looked down at the floor as she thought back and admitted, “I guess I am guilty of that Sin. After all, it was my pride that lead me to being stuck working for Satan.”

Uriel sighed, “Unfortunately, if you wish to try and free yourself from that, I’m not the angel you need to find. Raphael’s the one who knows how to help those who commit the Sin of Pride. He also knows the full details of the story, so if you wish to understand how it’s possible, speak to him.”

Before anyone could react though, a citizen burst into the room, panting as she told Urield about how one of Inkwell’s Heros and the Demon of Gluttony, Beelzebub, had gone and destroyed all the soul contracts that were out and about on that island. Uriel was surprised, and he looked at Lillia, who did confirm that she thought it was best to free those souls and that she was certainly glad that Aurelio was able to do what she couldn’t.

Unfortunately, since Aurelio heard the demon name, he blew his cover as he stood up and asked the citizen, “How did you manage to get all the way here?”

Mugman facepalmed. Uriel looked out the window and saw Aurelio in the same spot that he knew the demon was at. Mugman showed himself soon after. The group talked a bit, and Uriel then said, “Alright. I’ll let you have a chance to destroy the Hays Code machine, but on one condition.”

Lillia then asked, “What’s that?”

Uriel then said, “You’ll have to defeat me in a duel first. I set up a barrier around the Hays Code such that I have to fall before anyone can damage the thing.”

Uriel remembered how Aurelio helped Lillia against Samael, and hoped that a one-on-one duel might help matters. Lillia agreed and the two stepped outside. Aurelio asked Mugman why he was alone, and Mugman admitted that he arrived with Cala Maria, but for some reason, a barrier was blocking her from entering the island. He went in trying to investigate.

It was a lengthy battle, but eventually, Uriel fell to the ground, dropping his halo. Lillia - touched by the fact that the Archangel of Chastity took the time to explain to her something she never understood before - approached and asked if he wanted to stop the fight. Uriel shook his head as he explained, “The battle’s over. Bear in mind this though, Lillia. He is not like any demon you’ve seen before. Odds are he’ll try to take your place if you absorb enough halos. Should the time come, please do the right thing.”

Before Lillia could say anything, Uriel vanished and his dropped halo broke and entered her body much like Samael’s dropped halo did earlier.

The other angels fled to make sure that their commander was alright, giving Aurelio, Lillia, and Mugman the opportunity to destroy the machine. Mugman hesitated a bit to take some notes on the machine’s design, just in case they needed the information later on. Once the machine was destroyed, the three knew that it was time to go. Mugman was happy to see that the barrier keeping Cala Maria out had dropped, but at the same time, the two understood that they needed to get back to Inkwell. After all, the others would probably want to know this information.

As for Lillia and Aurelio? Well, Joy was glad that Uriel fell, but she huffed that she would’ve preferred him captured so she could take revenge herself. Lillia didn’t respond as she made the trek back to Inkwell Hell. She had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darn it, Uriel! You caused a major part of the story to happen sooner than intended! Yes, I originally meant to save that plot point for a later part of the series, but Uriel telling it when he did just came naturally to me.  
> As for the stuff that Joy was shouting but never was said... let's just say that she's got a penchant for foul language when angered. Belle has actually heard Joy use such words and Dice knew that, which is why nobody really tried to cover Belle's ears.


	6. "Returning from Casturia"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Lillia and Aurelio return to Inkwell Hell, what's going to await them?

# “Returning from Casturia”

King Dice immediately sensed that Lillia absorbed another Archangel’s Halo upon spotting her. He then said, “You’re going to get a bounty on your head at this rate, Lily!”

Lillia just shrugged. King Dice had a feeling that something was off. Changing the subject, the Devil’s Right Hand Man explained that a bunch of letters arrived and they all seemed to be requests for submitting stories to Revelation Review. Lillia quietly nodded as she headed over to review the messages. As Aurelio was speaking to Fondesu about how things were going, the Dark Noble of Gluttony noticed the Devil call King Dice aside. Fondesu huffed, “You may be the Dark Noble now, kid, but you shouldn’t go eavesdropping on those two!”

Meanwhile, King Dice asked the Devil why he was called over. The Devil inquired about the suspicions the others have about Lillia. When Dice reported what Belle told him in addition to Joy’s complaints, the Devil sighed, “So they’re starting to piece it together.”

Kind Dice then asked, “Boss?”

The Devil swore King Dice to secrecy before he explained, “Part of why I fell in the first place had to do with a human. That human King of Hubia thought he could rise to the level of a god. I was sent to do something about it. That man had clearly prepared himself for fighting angels, as he was putting up a fight. I decided to just take his soul.”

King Dice then inquired about the split. The Devil could only admit that he had no idea on what happened to the soul of that king, as the last thing he remembered was trying to take that soul. Everything after that was a blur until the events just before the split when he debated with himself. The Devil then said with a glare, “But for Lillia to possess his soul, or at least, a piece of it… Dice, she’s going to be trouble if she manages to survive the angels.”

King Dice sighed, “Just like those Cups.”

The Devil then admitted to Dice that all the halos he took from the angels he fought were absorbed into his own body, which stabilized his own soul, but meant that he didn’t have any to repay Azazel. Dice couldn’t help but ask about that, and the Devil admitted that he didn’t realize that those halos were absorbed until after he made the deal.

Over the next few days, things seemed to be unusually calm in that Lillia and Aurelio weren’t being sent to another island. Unlike Gulantia which happened quickly, and unlike Casturia where some extra time had to be spent getting Revelation Review out there, there seemed to be no real reason as to why there was a delay this time. Eventually, Lillia pressed the issue, asking the Devil if there was a reason why she and Aurelio weren’t being sent to deal with the other Hays Codes, reminding him about what he told her about how dangerous they are. The Devil (who got word from some of the other demons) pointed out that Mephistopheles was able to stop the Hays Code in Tristero on his own, Amon was keeping Azriel (the Archangel of Patience) in a stalemate that was keeping the Code in Patira from doing its job, and they were still trying to figure out what was happening on Leviathan’s part as she still didn’t report, but there were no signs of the Hays Code at all on the Surface of Humandia. Lillia then asked, “What about Acetria?”

The Devil sighed, “That one’s got… political complications.”

Lillia tilted her head. King Dice then said, “Some of the lesser demons had begun to plot. They’re hoping to take over the Throne of Acedia by taking advantage of how Belphegor’s not yet a legal adult. So long as the Archangel of Diligence, Gabriel, controls that island, the other demons can’t do anything. And before you ask, any damage the Hays Code does will get reversed upon its destruction, so as long as we have a place free from it, we don’t have to rush to stop them.”

Lillia remarked, “Come to think of it, Belle was saying something about her birthday coming soon.”

The Devil nodded, “Exactly. On that day, she’ll be old enough to assert her claim. I trust her more than the other demons jockeying for that position, so I want to ensure that she gets on the throne when the island is liberated.”

Lillia nodded, “Got it. But… why her?”

King Dice smirked, “She may not look like it, but when she puts her mind to it, she’s shown talent in refining souls.”

The Devil grinned, “And if we’re going to take this fight to the angels, then having someone who can provide souls that are more valuable will benefit immensely.”

Lillia, a little uneasy, nodded, “I… see…”

A few days later, Belle shouted, “ **LUCIFERRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!** ”

Lillia, flinching, then asked, “Belle, what’s wrong?”

Belle, teary eyed and furious, complained, “What were you thinking?! Publishing stories by our enemies in Revelation Review?!”

Lillia, horribly confused, then asked, “What do you mean?”

Belle then showed Lillia some of the letters and pouted, “Gabriel wrote these! He’s trying to turn everyone against us!”

Lillia’s eyes widened as she apologized, “I’m sorry, Belle, but I didn’t know. I never saw his handwriting before, and he submitted it anonymously like so many of the others.”

Belle looked at Lillia, frowned, and sighed, “It’s okay. I’m sorry for yelling.”

Lillia put her hand on Belle’s shoulder and said, “I can understand. After all, Gabriel’s the one whose Virtue opposes your Vice, right?”

Belle nodded, but pouted, “Yeah, but I can’t believe he tricked you like that, Lily!”

Lillia sighed, “Yeah, I feel ashamed by that as well. But on the other hand, it does give us a chance to understand what the other side is thinking, doesn’t it?”

Belle tilted her head, “Were you spending time in Purgatorio, Lily?”

Lillia then inquired, “Purgatory? No, I don’t think so. Why’d you ask?”

Belle smiled, “I remember someone telling me that Nephilim live in Purgatorio after having been hunted down, and you seem to be acting like you spent time with them! Arguing for both sides to be heard and whatnot.”

Lillia then asked, “Who told you that?”

Belle giggled a little as she replied, “I’m afraid I can’t say. She told me to keep it a secret, but that she came from the island of Winterbell.”

Lillia smiled, “Winerbell, huh? Isn’t that one of the islands north of Inkwell?”

Belle nodded, “Yep! You should see it someday, Lillia!”

Lillia nervously chuckled as she replied, “Eh heh heh… I’m afraid I’m more used to the heat than the cold.”

Belle pouted, “I think the Devil’s keeping you down here for too long!”

With a grin, the Dark Noble of Sloth then added, “Tell you what, I’ll take you to Acetria when my birthday comes and you’ll be able to see the snow! If he questions it, I’ll tell him that I couldn’t wait anymore and decided to bring you and your boyfriend to help me!”

Lillia stumbled as she exclaimed, “Ah-ts-ts! Belle! Aurelio and I aren’t -”

Belle interrupted when she laughed, “Ha! You mentioned Aurelio! I knew you were falling for him and not Bluestone! I don’t know why Dice was doubting it!”

Lillia clenched her fist as she hissed, “ **Mammon…** ”

King Dice walked in and huffed, “Seriously, girl? You made me lose a bet, **TWICE**?!”

Lillia smirked, “Have you forgotten the last time, Dice?”

King Dice however shook things up by having Lillia battle everyone in the King’s Court at once. After Lillia bested them, Dice entered himself. Lillia wondered why Dice was going in without making himself bigger, only to get smacked in the face by a card. To her shock, Dice managed to use that to heal himself, though just a little. Pointing her finger at him after dodging another attack, Lillia shouted, “You copy-cat! I know where you got that idea from!”

Dice then grinned, “Hey, if it works, I’ll use it!”

Despite this though, Lillia managed to win the duel. Belle then said, “So Dice, will you help me convince the Devil to let me head back on that day like you said?”

King Dice grumbled, “Yeah, sure. It’s a cheap price to pay for losing that one.”

Lillia raised an eyebrow, ‘You’re taking this in stride, aren’t you?”

King Dice brushed some dust off as he replied, “Boss told me to gauge your strength, even if it means having to lose a bet.”

Belle almost whined, “ **WHAAAT?!** You mean to say that you agreed with me on that one all along, but bet against it because you had a job to do?”

King Dice sighed, “It’s not easy being the Devil’s Right Hand Man, you know.”

Meanwhile, Michael was speaking with Samael and Uriel about the recent troubles. After Uriel explained about how Lillia, despite being the actual reincarnation of Lucifer that they were keeping an eye out for, showed basically no real desire to take the throne of Superbia unlike everyone else who either was a previous reincarnation attempt or just a pretender hoping to become the Dark Noble of Pride. Michael pondered this, and asked, “Were the Nephilim right all along?”

Samael asked, “Was this related to that prophecy?”

Michael nodded, “Yes, that one: ‘While those of fallen soul take refuge above, virtuous hearts shall take the Dark throne to restore the Balance, and bring war to those who stand to ruin it and the world itself.’ Could it really be coming true?”

Meanwhile, on the island of Tristero, Mephistopheles had gotten a letter from Satan. In it, the Devil of Inkwell explained about the current situation, and warning the Dark Noble of Despair that Cuphead and Mugman might try to stop him. With a smirk, Mephistopheles included in his reply, “If you need to do something about those cups, why not place them on the Dark Thrones, especially if you find that you need to **replace** one or two of them?”

Back in the casino, after King Dice had to close the place for the night, he went to check up on Aurelio and Lillia as the two were pulled out of work for the day because Azazel insisted that they train up for when they went to face Gabriel. However, just before the manager could knock on the door to the room the two were at, he thought he heard Aurelio ask, “Bra?”

Dice, dumbfounded by this, just opened the door and asked, “What are you two doing?! Going intimate that quickly? Lily? **Beelzebub**?”

Aurelio stammered, “D-D-Mr. King Dice!”

Lillia stared at Dice for a moment, then burst out laughing, “Tah-ha-ha-ha! **Oh** ~ my gods! King Dice, you **_really_ ** took _that_ one out of context!”

Dice noticed that Lillia was using a portable version of the computer-like device that was in the workshop. Taking it out of Lillia’s hands, Dice looked at it, but immediately he saw the word “Swedish” at the top of the screen. Looking further down, he saw that three letter word before handing the device back to Lillia looking red in the face. Lillia, still snickering, then explained, “I hadn’t taken a chance to practice my Swedish in a while, so I thought I’d take the time to show Aurelio as well.”

Dice, a little flustered, then said, “Let’s be glad that no one else noticed this…”

As Dice left, Aurelio felt flustered as he asked, “Did Dice seriously think that I asked about that item?”

Lillia, still snickering, admitted, “Seems like it, Aurelio.”

Facing Aurelio, Lillia then asked, “Say, want to sneak over to Gulantia to visit your relatives? I’m sure they miss you.”

Aurelio, though touched by this, replied, “Nej, tack. I appreciate the sentiments, but I can’t.”

Lillia sighed, “Is it because we’ll be heading to Acetria soon?”

Aurelio nodded, “Pretty much. I think the Devil’s mad at us for freeing all of those souls. Will we be able to keep making up excuses?”

Lillia smiled, “You know, I’m sure that if we ask her, Belle would be alright with freeing the souls in exchange for us helping her free the island from Gabriel. That’s one less island to worry about, right?”

Aurelio nodded, “True, but after that? We don’t even know who all of the Dark Nobles are, and surely there are some who would rather not free the souls, right?”

Lillia sighed, “Good point. We should probably get to sleep.”

The two wished each other good night, but Lillia was struggling to sleep. She always was a bit of a night owl herself, but that night seemed especially troublesome. When she finally did get to sleep, Lillia had a bit of a nightmare where she felt powerless. Bound to an alter, she couldn’t move, but she felt as though she was experiencing a painful transformation. The last thing she saw before she woke up was her reflection in the mirror, but the only thing she could remember from that vision was that she had some form of wings and a demonic tail of a kind. However, she couldn’t remember if the wings were on her back, or if her arms transformed into wings, but they reminded her an awful lot of angel wings.

Lillia woke up from that nightmare with a start. She wasn’t sure what it was about. Thinking that she shouldn’t worry about it, Lillia decided to get ready. As she was washing her face a bit, she thought back to days before she had set out on the very mission that eventually landed her in the Underworld doing the Devil’s work. She remembered how she hadn’t been that cautious about her appearance - just enough to seem presentable - as her coworkers never seemed to mind it (and some of the higher ups at Inkwell Island 1’s paper were far more sloppily dressed than she was even though she dared not speak up). However, ever since she found herself working in the Underworld, King Dice had gotten on her case about it - one way or another. True she wasn’t wearing an outfit as fancy as his was, but it was still a bit nicer than what she had worn before. Heck, she was honestly surprised that he wasn’t trying to make her wear a dress. However, Dice had pointed out that since she was showing success in battling angels, he figured that it would be better to have her wear something that she’d be comfortable fighting in, and modifying a male uniform design to work with her petite feminine figure seemed far more effective than trying to force her to wear the female uniform. Lillia remembered that, out of curiosity, she asked about what the female uniform looked like, and to her surprise, it was far more modest than she expected. Sure, it looked like it could accentuate any curves, but even then it really did look to be just as classy and professional as the male uniforms. Lillia still opted for the male uniform though because by that point in time, it was habit.

As Lillia was tying her Ribbons in place, she noticed the calendar and saw the note that Aurelio left. Today (April 27) was Belle’s birthday, the day she finally turned 18. The Devil was irked at the fact that it was so late in the month, but King Dice reminded him of how important it was for them to wait. After all, Acetria was close enough to Inkwell that it’d only take a few hours at most for them to get there by plane. Satan was glad for the fact that the time they spent waiting for Belle to become a legal adult wasn’t spend idling around. Although the new things set up didn’t really help in rounding up souls (can’t really get people in debt that easily in the cafeteria or arcade for example, and the residents of Inkwell were far more cautious about their souls than before), they did help bring in a more steady cash revenue, so business at least was doing well again. For that matter, it seemed like some people from the nearby islands started coming to Inkwell thanks to both word of mouth and the issues of Revelation Review that were coming out.

One day though, something unusual happened. A young woman from Acetria, Monica, arrived at the Casino and went to the arcade. Lillia at the time was at the dance machines, demonstrating to a few younger customers who came from Casturia and Gulantia how to play them. Monica had been hearing a thing or two about a 22-year old woman working for the Devil and battling angels. Seeing Lillia wearing a pair of earrings in the shape of yellow hearts, Monica figured it was her. Once Lillia finished her demonstration and let the kids have fun on the dance machine, she took notice of the other woman and smiled, “Hello! How are you doing?”

Monica closed her eyes and replied, “Very well. You’re the one they call Lily?”

Lillia nodded, “Yeah, that’s me. Something up?”

A short time later, Lillia and Monica were at the cafeteria. King Dice was too busy attending to matters at the casino, so he didn’t know what Lillia was up to. The Devil, who had gone to check up on Aurelio, glanced over at the tables and decided to eavesdrop. After all, this was probably the first time that Lillia was talking to a customer while she should be on duty. The demon was about to walk over to scold Lillia, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard Monica declare, “I bet my soul I can outperform you on that machine!”

Lillia’s eyes widened, “Hold up, Monica! What do you want if you win?”

Monica grinned almost as sinisterly as King Dice could as she answered, “If I win, you’re coming with me.”

Lillia didn’t know it at the time, but Gabriel sent Monica on a mission to try and capture that woman who was causing trouble for his angels. If she could, Monica was to try and get Lillia to the island of Hubia.

The Devil started to approach, but Lillia sighed, “Alright. Challenge accepted.”

The Devil boomed, “Excellent!”

Lillia glanced behind her as she said, “Please don’t interfere on my behalf, Satan.”

The Devil then asked, “Why? Don’t you want to maximize your chances?”

Lillia then said, “The arcade games like the dance machines were programmed with fair play in mind. I want to maintain that sense of honor if I can help it.”

Monica smiled as she remarked, “I appreciate your willingness to play nice, Lily. It’s a nice change of pace compared to the casino’s infamous reputation.”

However, things didn’t go as anticipated in the special room set aside for this kind of duel. The two agreed to go for 3 songs and the best overall would be the winner. The first song, Monica was tripped up by the fact that the machines that they were using had 5 buttons instead of four which gave Lillia a decent lead. The second song went in Monica’s favor due to her getting used to the controls and proving herself capable. It all came down to the third song. One thing that both women found unusual was that apparently King Dice had modified those machines to include a way to earn extra points: if they sing the lyrics in time with the music. Lillia chose an easy song with no lyrics in Round 1 just to make sure that the challenge was fair. Monica in Round 2 chose a song that also lacked lyrics because she didn’t want to bother with the new mechanic. The Devil however, opted to just choose the final song himself, and this one was one that was going to have the singing mechanic in place. He knew that this was the best chance for Lillia to come out victorious, as right now Monica was barely ahead of her.

As the machines left the loading screen, Lillia perked up as a familiar jazzy theme played: it was King Dice’s song. Unable to stop herself, Lillia began to sing the lyrics when the timing came. Monica was able to keep to the rhythm decently, but she was stumbling a little due to not knowing the lyrics at all. The Devil, feeling satisfied, left to check up on King Dice. As a result, the demon wasn’t around to see the results. Thanks to that bonus point mechanic, Lillia barely emerged victorious.

Monica’s eyes widened with fear. She fell to her knees ready to beg for mercy. To her surprise, Lillia knelt down to match her level and said, “Actually, I think there’s something that I’d rather ask you instead of taking your soul, if that’s alright.”

Monica asked, “What is it?”

Lillia then sighed, “It has to do with this whole situation. Why were you trying to capture me? And what’s been happening on the other islands?”

Monica, taking note of how the Devil wasn’t around, told Lillia about the fact that Gabriel sent her for that purpose, and noting about the Hays code in Acetria was causing people to work far more than ever before. However, King Dice finally had a chance to take a break and he came in, realizing that Lillia wasn’t going to collect Monica’s soul. Lillia however, made a motion telling Dice to hold it, before she offered Monica a deal: if Monica could help gather information on what’s been going on with the islands of Hubia, Humandia, Patira, and Tristero, Lillia promised to leave Monica’s soul alone. The other woman agreed on the spot and headed off before Dice could catch her. The Devil came back and was pretty mad after Dice told him about what happened. Lillia stood, looked the Devil in the eyes, and said with a small grin, “Haven’t you heard the saying that knowledge is power? I think it’d be far more useful to have someone help with figuring out what those angels were up to. What do you say?”

The Devil thought a moment, then grinned, “I think I get your point. Besides, she might still be rejected from Heaven anyway due to making a deal with you, so it’s not that big a loss.”

King Dice then said, “But Boss-”

The Devil then grinned, “Don’t blow your wig, Dice!”

However, the three were interrupted when Belle complained to Aurelio about how she forgot to take him and Lillia to Acetria. As the trio came in to the cafeteria, realizing that time flew so fast that it was already closing time for the day, they could see that Aurelio had made a pretty impressive cake both to celebrate Belle’s birthday, and to help cheer her up after what happened. The Devil was in a pretty good mood seeing how Lillia might be showing potential in making devilish deeds considering her encounter with Monica, so when Belle sighed, “I sure hope I can return home soon.” The Devil then said, “You’re in luck, Belphegor!”

While Belle on impulse turned to face the demon, Aurelio, King Dice, and Lillia also looked due to a curiosity. The Devil then grinned, “Tomorrow’s the day we’ll finally work to free Acetria!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, about Lillia's exclamation of "Ah-ts-ts!"... that was actually based on something I remember my Spanish teacher in high school exclaiming sometimes. I wasn't sure how the onomatopoeia went, so what Lillia exclaimed was basically my best guess.  
> And about that bit involving the language confusion? That was admittedly based on some reality subtext. I myself started using an app, Memrise (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.memrise.android.memrisecompanion&hl=en if you want to check it out), to learn Swedish. I noticed that in the app, one of the words, bra, meant "good; well". However... because of what word in English that looked like, I couldn't help but imagine that someone might take things out of context and think something else should they see that word. Plus, it reminded me of my late mother who taught English as a second language. I think she mentioned how some of her students snickered at the English word "beach" - which might have helped inspire this particular moment.  
> As for why Lillia was brushing up on Swedish instead of learning Enochian like Joy suggested? Well, apart from my attempting to avoid over-referencing Bayonetta again, I can't imagine Lillia being all that thrilled at the thought of learning that language because she's never really found any materials that can help her learn the language unlike the language she is learning. Plus, I can totally see her purposefully choosing to teach Aurelio a language that those like Joy and The Devil don't appear to know in order to mess with them a bit! I don't know if Satan knows Swedish or not, but I can say with full confidence that Joy doesn't know that language. Dice, after this incident, would at the very least remember to keep in mind the possibility that Lillia might speak Swedish, but whether he actually knows the language or not I don't know. Belle doesn't know Swedish, but I can imagine her taking the effort to learn it if she gets enough reason to do so (even then, I don't imagine Lillia trying to mess with Belle in that regard).  
> Regarding Belle's birthday, I had that month in mind because I heard that it was the month where Belphegor was strongest. I originally thought of having it near the start of the month, but I thought that it'd be funnier if it was near the end of the month.  
> Ah, one last thing to clarify: The day that Monica dueled Lillia is the same day as Belle's Birthday.


	7. "Acetria"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle, the heir to the Throne of Acedia, has finally reached legal adult age. The time has come for her to retake what's hers, but how will she successfully claim the throne? And what role will Lillia and Aurelio play in this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if you guys see something wrong with the way I'm writing things, let me know! The more feedback I get, the more I can improve as a writer!

# “Acetria”

Belle was pretty excited to be heading to Acetria. After all, it was the place she came from. Even though she had apparently grown up in Tristero, her friends in the Underworld had told her much about the place that was the home of the area that she would finally take the throne of. Lillia, despite being glad to finally get some fresh air, wasn’t as enthusiastic as everyone thought she would be though. Aurelio asked, but Lillia simply said that she had things on her mind. Belle let the matter slide as she was prepping up to go, but King Dice took notice of something. Aurelio had put his hand on Lillia’s shoulder and reassured her that if she needed to talk to anyone, he was happy to listen. Lillia, perhaps feeling touched by this, hugged him out of instinct.

King Dice’s green eyes widened, and he immediately raced to tell his boss about it. The Devil, unsure as to what his Right Hand Man was freaking out about, questioned it, and Dice replied, “How often has love become the catalyst for rebellions against us or our fellow demons?”

The Devil’s eyes widened at the implications of King Dice’s words, and his mouth opened just wide enough to where the cigar in his mouth fell upon the stone floor. He remembered how Mephistopheles had told him about too many incidents where someone indebted to the Dark Noble of Despair had somehow found new love in their life to where they would fight tooth and nail to escape. And though Mephistopheles had managed to get some souls, a good many of them managed to escape… **without** turning to the angels for help. That was when the Devil realized: this thing many call Love might be the one force that neither angel nor demon can truly control. The one thing that many a mortal could use to draw upon the power to repel whatever powers claim to be above them. Dice suggested that they try to force Aurelio and Lillia to work separately, citing Lillia’s ability to duel some angels one-on-one as a sign that she doesn’t really need Aurelio helping her out. The Devil agreed, but by the time they got to where Dice last saw Lillia, she and Aurelio had already left to Acetria. The Devil simply noted that they’ll have Lillia go solo for the next island. But when the Devil told Dice which island it was, Dice questioned the decision, saying, “Isn’t that the one island that could truly end her?”

The Devil simply glared, “That’s exactly what I’m counting on, Dice. The sooner we get rid of her, the sooner we can ensure that she won’t get ideas.”

To emphasize his point, the Devil’s pupils played out a scene that prompted Dice to gulp. He was certainly glad that he wasn’t Lillia.

Meanwhile, Aurelio, Lillia, and Belle arrived at Acetria Hell only to find it in chaos. Many a demon tried to take the throne, but many argued about the matter of retrieving the Soul contracts that Belphegor hadn’t gotten around to collecting and of course the issue of Gabriel, the Archangel of Diligence. Azazel dashed over and explained the situation to the trio of newcomers. Apparently, the demons decided that the one to decide who the Dark Noble of Sloth would be the one who can successfully retrieve the 30 Soul Contracts that the previous Dark Noble, Belle’s past self Belphegor, had not been able to collect before he was slain by Gabriel in Acetria Hell, a move that forced the demon to reincarnate. Belle nodded in understanding before pleading to Lillia to help her take the throne. Lillia glanced at the throne, then sighed and said, “I’ll be willing to help you out, but I would like to ask you something in return.”

Belle’s eyes widened. She never saw Lillia act this way before. The 18-year old woman then asked, “What is it?”

Lillia then asked, “Will you promise to free those Souls? Or at least to allow Aurelio and I to free them?”

Belle agreed without hesitation, “Yes, of course!”

Belle had seen how miserable things can be for those who sold their souls to demons, and this had made her have second thoughts about the whole thing. But as Lillia was starting to make her way to the exit, she was stopped. A crowd of demons began to gather around her. One succubus then hissed, “That necklace! She’s got Sol!”

Belle and Aurelio were pushing their way through to try and catch up to Lillia. An incubus then spoke in a voice that clearly sounded like he was thinking of trying to seduce Lillia, “So, the rumors were true~. It’s an honor to meet you at last, Lucifer~.”

Lillia, a little flustered, then said, “Um… thanks? I’m sorry, but I’m not here to chat. I was sent here to do something about that Hays Code.”

Another demon laughed, “Pride before the fall! No one’s gotten past Gabe yet and your body’s still human! What can you do?!”

Lillia shook her head, “I’m not alone in this endeavor!”

By this point, Aurelio and Belle caught up. The demons there instantly recognized that the young man was the Dark Noble of Gluttony and the incubus that thought to try and seduce Lillia immediately backed off when he saw Aurelio give a slight glare at him. Others soon realized that Belle was none other than Belphegor. Some decided to back off their claims to the throne, but others remained firm in their opposition because they believed that the green-eyed woman was too young. Lillia simply made her way towards the exit. As Aurelio was making his way through the crowd, he heard one imp remark, “If not for her fashion choice, I can picture her in a Nouveau art poster!”

Another demon whispered, “Why would the heir to the throne of Superbia take such a petite form?”

The incubus that Aurelio glared at nudged his shoulder as he remarked, “You’re lucky to have her eye, Lord Beelzebub.”

Aurelio turned and asked, “What do you mean?”

The incubus then remarked, “You don’t know? They say that the Ruler of Hubia Hell only has eyes for those they care about. If not for Satan holding the domain and the one he tasked with managing the place, who knows what could be done there! Surely as Beelzebub’s reincarnation, you’d know that already!”

Aurelio nervously chuckled, “Actually, Beelzebub’s real reincarnation put me on the Throne of Gula. I kinda ticked him off and he didn’t seem to realize what he did until it was too late. Probably just sought to curse me or something.”

The Incubus’s eyes widened, “So… you’re basically mortal… but in such good standing… I can’t even!”

With that, the Incubus fled back to the other demons, giving Aurelio the opportunity to catch up. Lillia was waiting for him, a gentle smile on her face as he drew closer. Aurelio apologized for the delay, but Lillia didn’t mind. However, the moment they stepped outside of Acetria Hell and onto the surface, they found themselves surrounded by angels and they heard a voice say, “Alright Beelzebub, Lucifer. Hands in the air.”

Lillia and Aurelio shot their hands into the air, but weren’t sure why. They then saw Gabriel was there, and it was clear to them that he was the one who gave the order. Lillia then asked, “Archangel Gabriel, I presume?”

Gabriel nodded, “Correct.”

To Lillia’s and Aurelio’s dismay, they were brought to the angels’ camp. One thing they did notice on the way was that a number of the citizens affected by the Hays Code looked overworked, as though the virtue of Diligence was going out of control. When they got to where Gabriel wanted to take them, Lillia inquired, “Are you sure the people are okay? They seem overworked.”

Gabriel scoffed, “Yes, they’re doing much better now that they’re practicing virtue instead of vice.”

Aurelio pleaded, “But are they truly doing it for the sake of doing the right thing? Or are they being forced to against their will?”

Gabriel glared at Aurelio, as though thinking the question was foolish. Gabriel started to reply as such, but Lillia cut him off. What shocked everyone, even herself, was that Lillia cut Gabriel off by shouting, “ **THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT MACHINES!** ”

Something must’ve struck a chord. A few humans who were close enough to hear started shaking a bit. Soon, some collapsed due to exhaustion while others started to complain and pointing fingers at the angels. Lillia, Aurelio, and Gabriel looked out the window and saw Hilda Berg and Grim Matchstick risking their own lives trying to get a number of the people to safety, particularly the ones that couldn’t move on their own. The two of them had gotten word from Cuphead, Mugman, Baroness Von Bon Bon, and Cala Maria about what happened and went to look for Lillia - figuring that since Acetria wasn’t one where Lillia was spotted at, it might be the next place where she’d show up.

Gabriel exclaimed, “Two of Inkwell’s witches?! Here?!”

Aurelio then asked, “Witches?”

Gabriel then said, “Those who made a deal with the Devil are known as witches, aren’t they?”

Lillia shrugged, “I guess that’s what you and your fellow angels call the debtors.”

At this point, Belle was trying to make her way over. She managed to win support on the surface due to going out to help Hilda and Grim with getting the people to safety. Some of those victims happen to be the same debtors who owed their souls to Belphegor. Belle, remembering what she heard about what happened on Casturia, managed to negotiate with the debtors. In exchange for handing their contracts to her, she promised to free the souls and try to negotiate with Gabriel. To Belle, freeing the souls was easy, despite a number of the demons crying foul. Belle pouted, “Hey, I managed to actually **retrieve** those contracts, you know! Now I just need to get that Hays Code busted!”

Belle left before she could get a response, but Valefar took notice of how the demons started to see that maybe this young reincarnation might actually be worthy of the Throne of Acedia. Still, the thought of negotiating with the angels didn’t sit well, but Valefar told them to at least consider it on the grounds that they might risk bringing Michael to Acetria if they don’t give peace a chance.

By the time Belle got there, Gabriel was fighting Lillia and Aurelio. Gabriel however proved to be much tougher than anticipated, as he was fighting the two to a standstill. Neither side was gaining an edge though. Finally, Belle cried out, “WAIT!!!”

Lillia, Aurelio, and Gabriel turned. Gabriel instantly recognized Belphegor and asked, “Why did you come here now of all times, Belphegor?”

Belle, despite shaking in her boots, spoke, “I-I… I came to negotiate peace!”

Gabriel did notice that Belle seemed to have burned her hand… and was able to deduce that she destroyed the Soul Contracts of Acetria. As Hilda Berg and Grim Matchstick came by, Gabriel realized that he was outnumbered and agreed to hear her out. Negotiations were rough, but the Archangel offered to let them destroy the Hays Code if one of the three Dark Nobles present agreed to be bound such that they wouldn’t be able to form new Soul Contracts without the help of another. Just as Aurelio and Lillia looked at each other trying to decide what to do, Belle then said, “I’ll do it. I’ve seen what’s happened to those condemned and I grew to regret it. Please, for their sake! Stop me from doing this again!”

Lillia asked Belle if she was alright with this. Belle then noted, “Mammon’s also been bound thanks to an angel, but that never stopped him from doing that which he believed he had to do. Surely I can do the same. Right?”

Aurelio smiled, “I don’t think King Dice is the best role model, but if it works, it works.”

Aurelio and Grim Matchstick went to destroy the Hays Code machine. Lillia stayed behind to give moral support to Belle while the binding spell was being cast, and Hilda Berg wanted to speak with Lillia. Once it was done, Belle hugged Lillia and smiled, “Thanks for being here, Lily.”

Lillia hugged back, “You’re welcome, Belle. I understand that this must’ve been scary for you.”

Belle nodded, “It is… but you and Aurelio showed me true courage!”

Hilda Berg then asked, “So, wait, this young lady’s Belphegor?”

To Lillia’s shock, Belle didn’t respond. Immediately, Lillia asked about it, pointing out to Gabriel that King Dice reacted whenever he heard the name Mammon. Gabriel sighed, “That’s the difference between a demon bound against their will and a demon who agrees to be bound. The one who agrees to be bound effectively undergoes the equivalent of an exorcism in that they are no longer bound to responding upon hearing their demon name. It was certainly a struggle for Michael and Azriel to limit Mammon’s power since he genuinely preferred to remain by Satan’s side.”

Hilda Berg then pounced on the opportunity to interrogate Lillia about the events that lead her to where she was now. As Lillia explained about the slip up she made and the shame she felt, Hilda sighed, “If you just told us, we could’ve helped you! I know you’ve been through enough fights to defeat that no-good demon! Why are you still doing his dirty work against the angels.”

Lillia glanced in the direction that Aurelio went to as she admitted, “In all honesty, I’ve got… personal reasons.”

Hilda Berg raised an eyebrow. She remembered Jonathan Bluestone telling her about Lillia meeting Aurelio, but was it really love? During this moment though, Lillia felt something pelt her backside, only to realize that Gabriel tossed his halo at her. Turning to face the Archangel, Gabriel then sighed, “I need to head back to the Heavens to report this whole thing. Besides, if you plan to break free of Satan, you’ll need this. Beware though, for you’ll have to endure a nasty trial if you truly wish to walk this path.”

Before Lillia could say anything, Gabriel vanished. Hilda Berg suggested that they get going.

As the group was heading towards Acetria Hell, Lillia had taken a moment to speak to Aurelio alone. Sitting by a lake that was left untouched despite the Hays Code, Lillia seemed to have struggled to find the words to speak. Aurelio felt that she touched his hand with her own and he gently smiled, “We’ve known each other for a while now, Lillia. If you need to say something, you can tell me.”

Lillia then said, “Aurelio… I… I...”

Aurelio felt his face be tinted reddish pink and Lillia’s seemed similarly flustered as she drew closer. Suddenly, Lillia closed her eyes and blurted out, “ **I love you!** ”

Aurelio was stunned, but he then smiled and whispered, “I love you too.”

Lillia felt something on her lips and her eyes widened. A kiss. Hugging Aurelio, Lillia passionately returned the kiss, accidentally causing the two to fall over and landing on the grass near the lake. The kiss broke, and Lillia was ready to help Aurelio up, but he didn’t really seem to mind. Unbeknownst to the couple, Hilda Berg, Grim Matchstick, and Belle all took notice. Belle covered her mouth trying not to squeal as she dashed away. Grim put his hand on his heart and smiled. Hilda Berg grinned as she took a picture.

Unfortunately, Lillia and Aurelio heard the camera and immediately got up and looked in the direction the sound came from. Both were red in the face, but Lillia then shouted, “Hilda! What’s the big idea?!”

Hilda Berg laughed, “Looking for you two, lovebirds! Hurry up!”

As Hilda and Grim left to look for Belle, Lillia and Aurelio smiled at each other as the two got up and started to catch up to their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, for Gabriel to be one that can hold off both Lillia and Aurelio? That was done on purpose. Why? Well, part of it is because I was worried that Lillia was in risk of appearing overpowered. Second, it made sense to me for the Archangel representing the Virtue of Diligence to be the one who made sure to Level Grind enough to be able to handle someone who clearly was giving his teammates a hard time. Finally, having someone who is able to stand his ground is a chance to set up the idea of resolving matters peacefully in the fact that neither side in the fight was really getting anywhere, effectively prompting the need to find an alternate idea, thus giving Belle a chance to shine by being the one suggesting peace.
> 
> Speaking of Belle though, I feel like characters like her and Aurelio could have a small story dedicated to showing what they've been up to before meeting Lillia, and perhaps even afterwards during situations where Lillia's not around for one reason or another. However, I will admit that I've mostly written this story from Lillia's perspective, which is why she seems to be shown in the spotlight more so than other characters. If there's enough interest and I can find the inspiration, I can perhaps go back and look at the story from the perspectives of some of the other characters. However, I would like to finish Realizations before I consider it, namely so that way I can keep the plot in mind. I wouldn't want to try writing from another character's viewpoint only to accidentally derail the story before I finish writing it. ^.^;


	8. "Returning from Acetria"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With three islands dealt with, Lillia and Aurelio return to Inkwell Hell, but they're in for a nasty surprise when they return.

# “Returning from Acetria”

Lillia and Aurelio managed to get to Acetria Hell just in time. Due to Belle overcoming her fears and the steps she took in helping to get the Hays Code removed, the demons of Acetria Hell finally acknowledged that she was the rightful heir to the Throne of Acedia. While the coronation seemed to be simple, it did give an opportunity for Lillia and Aurelio a chance to meet one of the other demons who seemed to be a bigger name in the Underworld: Berith, the Master of Ceremonies. Lillia did remember seeing that name once as he had actually submitted a story to Revelation Review more as a way to teach the Surface about what life in the Underworld was like.

During the feast that happened after the ceremony, Lillia took the chance to approach Berith to thank him for the stories he submitted. Berith bowed and said, “It’s been my pleasure, Ms. Morgana.”

Lillia’s eyes widened, and she was a little stunned to speak. Berith noticed and asked if she didn’t remember Hubia. Lillia shook her head, “I’m afraid not. But I have a feeling that I should know…”

Berith sighed, “I fear Satan never told you the full truth.”

Lillia nodded, “Played me like a fiddle to get my soul in his hands?”

Berith shook his head, “It’s more than that, I’m afraid. If that’s truly what he intended for you, then he must’ve failed to catch your true identity back then.”

Despite knowing that The Devil and King Dice would likely expect them back soon, Lillia and Aurelio ended up staying on Acetria for the night because Belle insisted that she show them around before they left. On the snowy mountains that Belle wanted to show Lillia, the Dark Noble of Sloth was having fun tossing snowballs around. Lillia smiled, but she looked out into the distance and sensed a dark presence. Following it, Lillia saw that it was a Necromancer. The Necromancer simply asked, “Will your actions maintain the Balance? Or will they disrupt it?”

Before Lillia could inquire, the Necromancer teleported away. Turning her attention back to Aurelio and Belle, Lillia decided to relax and just enjoy the time she had before having to go back to Inkwell.

Unfortunately, Valefar secretly sent a report to King Dice about the news, and how Belle insisted that she and Aurelio stay the night. King Dice sighed, “Of course the young one hasn’t matured enough to realize how badly we need them to come back.”

The Devil told Dice to let it go this time, pointing out that if they try to escape, they’ll know. Fondesu however, questioned how they can ensure that Aurelio won’t try to follow Lillia to help her with the next island. King Dice’s eyes turned lime-green as he grinned, “Oh, don’t you worry, Fondesu. I’ve got it all figured out.”

The next day, Lillia and Aurelio bid Belle well as they headed back to Inkwell Hell. Hilda Berg had asked them about seeking help, but Lillia and Aurelio said that they felt the time wasn’t quite right. They did appreciate the thoughts though. Hilda Berg reluctantly agreed to let them decide for themselves, but asked Lillia to do the right thing. Lillia promised to do what she could.

When Lillia and Aurelio arrived in Inkwell Hell, however, they barely got off of their planes before King Dice and the Devil pounced. Before the two could react, they were both knocked out.

Aurelio woke up, finding himself tied up in a chair, but the room was unfamiliar to him. Judging by the sheer fanciness and purple colors, he guessed that King Dice had a hand in it. Betting on it, he then shouted, “Alright Mammon, what’d you do with Lillia?!”

With a dark chuckle, Dice stepped out of the shadows and said, “I knew it. So lovestruck are you that you’re worrying about her more than yourself.”

Aurelio tried to keep his resolve and asked, “What are you plotting this time, Dice?!”

Dice waved a finger as he said, “Tut, tut, my boy. I just needed to remind you of a duty you’ve neglected.”

With a raised eyebrow, Aurelio then asked, “Neglected?”

Dice’s eyes glowed lime-green as he noted, “Aren’t you the Dark Noble of Gluttony? Even if you weren’t taking it willingly, you still have a duty to attend to in Gulantia. Didn’t you and your **precious** Lily mention that Samael would return?”

“...” Aurelio didn’t give a response. Dice then said, “I promise you that I won’t hurt her if you just head back.”

Aurelio, by now familiar with Dice’s tendencies to play dirty tricks, snapped a little as he said, “Mammon, tell me the truth. The Devil has her, doesn’t he?!”

King Dice felt as though some sorcery forced him to speak, “Yes, he’s got her right now.”

After that, Dice shook his head and demanded, “How did you learn that, Beelzebub?!”

Aurelio then remarked, “Archangel Gabriel pulled a similar stunt on Lillia and I when we first entered Acetria’s surface. I figured that it might work on other demons too.”

Dice glared at Aurelio and warned, “Watch yourself, boy. I know **all** of the incantations, so don’t you mess with me!”

Aurelio, unable to keep his composure, laughed, “I got it! I got it! Don’t mess with King Dice!”

To the manager’s embarrassment, his underlings chimed in with, “Don’t mess with King Dice!” thinking that the song was being sung acapella. Dice did agree to let Aurelio go, but told him to speak to Fondesu right away.

Meanwhile, Lillia was taking hit after hit because she refused to answer The Devil's questions unless he told her if Aurelio was alright or not. The Devil was not going to answer her question though and was rapidly losing his patience. Lillia sensed an Archangel was nearby: Azriel, the Archangel of Patience. However, Azriel was only there to scout out what was happening. Lillia finally had enough of Satan's stubbornness and pulled out her Ribbon-Whip. The Devil’s eyes widened as he asked, “What are you planning, Lily?”

Lillia then glared, “If you try anything to Aurelio. I won’t hesitate in **ending** you if necessary.”

Azriel was stunned; the Devil’s underling who was most successful at fighting the angels was willing to go against her boss?! The Devil then grinned, “Just head to Hubia alone, and I promise you that your boyfriend will be safe.”

Lillia hesitated, but then put her ribbon back in place as she replied, “Alright, but no tricks. If I see that harm befell him, you’re **dead** , Satan.”

The Devil grinned, “You’ve changed since we first met, Lillia.”

Lillia simply sighed, “Apparently.” as she headed off to prepare for her next mission. It was only after Lillia left that The Devil realized that Azriel was there, but the Archangel managed to get away before the Devil could do anything about it. Still, it did nothing to sour Satan's mood as he grinned, “Threatening Wrath, no matter how noble the reason. She's never going to the Heavens now!”

Later in the evening, Lillia and Aurelio finally had a chance to talk to each other and they explained what happened. Lillia clenched her fist, “They’re trying to drive us apart! Why?!”

Aurelio couldn’t help but sigh, “I think… I think they’re actually afraid of us.”

Lillia’s eyes widened, “Afraid? But why?”

Aurelio then said, “You mentioned how Cuphead and Mugman together defeated the Devil, right?”

Lillia nodded, “Yes, but what does that have to do with us?”

Aurelio then said, “They probably would rather face one of us at a time if they could help it. After all, how often has the power of love been shown to overcome many an obstacle?”

Lillia gasped as the realization set in. She hugged Aurelio on impulse, and he hugged her back as he spoke, “Don’t worry. I promise that I won’t succumb to defeat.”

Lillia nodded, “I promise to do what I can!”

King Dice, who overheard through the door, sighed as he walked off. He started to realize that it was a bad idea to have the two work side-by-side for so long. Sure the bond between the two made it unlikely that they’d betray the Underworld to the angels in risk of harming the other, but who’s to say that they won’t start getting ideas of trying to take over the Underworld themselves?

By this point in time though, King Dice had secretly set up a communications link with Mephistopheles and went to discuss the idea of trying to plant certain people on the Dark Thrones. In this communication, Dice knew that he was going behind his boss’s back, but he told Mephistopheles, “If it really comes down to it, I’m authorizing you to try and put that kid Mugman on the Throne of Tristitia.”

Mephistopheles knew the specific circumstance that Dice was referring to and asked, “Are you sure about this? Wouldn’t we find ourselves in a similar situation as you mentioned this Lily causing?”

King Dice then said with a devious grin, “Oh, don’t you worry, Mephisto. I know the demons will love him if you decide to go through with it, and that alone might corrupt the boy with Despair. And if he falls, his brother might soon follow.”

Mephistopheles couldn’t hold back an evil laugh as he understood what his fellow Dark Noble was suggesting. Unfortunately, the Devil heard that laugh and had a word with Dice and Mephistopheles. After Dice explained to the Devil his plan on how to perhaps get a backup ready just in case Lillia does attempt to betray him, the Devil grinned, “Turning the ‘heroes’ that beat us against our newest foes? I knew there was a reason I kept you around, Dice!”

Dice simply thanked his boss before signing off for the night. At least, Dice would’ve, but he was getting suspicious about what was really going on in Hubia. So he snuck off himself towards Hubia Hell to do his own investigation.

The next morning, Lillia took the time to see Aurelio before he left to Gulantia. They wished each other luck, but as Aurelio left and The Devil came by to make sure that Lillia didn’t follow, the two turned when they suddenly heard King Dice shouting and racing towards them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, to specifically refer to Dice's eyes as lime-green? That came from another fanfic on this site that I've read, Mugman: Dancing with the Devil by gaymuffin3000. I think I tried to avoid using that color in past chapters, but it just stuck with me too much it seems. So credit where credit is due; if any of you guys like the DevilMug (The Devil x Mugman) and/or DiceCup (King Dice x Cuphead) ships, I recommend checking this out (http://archiveofourown.org/works/12691599/chapters/28939224).
> 
> Also, yes, I ended up including a Necromancer appearance. That Necromancer is in fact the same Necromancer from Winterbell that Belle had mentioned earlier. Even though I can't imagine a number of angels or demons being fond of Necromancers because of their magics potentially meddling in Afterlife affairs, Belle sees that Necromancer in particular as someone she can trust. It's something that I'd likely elaborate on more if I ever write a story focusing on Belle herself.
> 
> As for that idea King Dice had of making Mugman the new Dark Noble of Despair if needed? That was... admittedly a bit of a jab at a trend I've noticed. Basically, for some reason, I've seen more than one case where Mugman in a fan-made plot-line was stuck on The Devil's side with Cuphead remaining on the side of good. Outside of cases where it seemed to be the point (DevilMug stories are the first thing that comes to mind), that trend was honestly bugging me. I'm not saying those stories are bad. Maybe it's bothered me because I felt that I could relate to Mugman a little? Maybe it's because out of the three times where I saw it, Mugman seemed to have turned out the same way in two of them? Thankfully, I did hear the reasoning behind some of those cases where the trend held, so it's not bothering me as much now. Maybe I might mess with the idea myself of Mugman finding himself on the side of darkness someday? I can't say. With another college quarter starting, I don't think I'll have as much time to devote to writing, so I'm probably going to try and focus my writing time on finishing Realizations (and I still have a ways to go!).


	9. "Shadow in the Light"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind Dice found out that the one who The Devil trusted with Hubia has utterly FAILED in her duties! It's up to Lillia to find out what's going on and fix the troubles, but can she handle this alone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, there's something which I think I need to address here, and that's the matter of reincarnation. You see, from what I understand of it, basically a soul might be one thing in a particular life, but might reincarnate into something completely different. That's why characters who are noted to be the reincarnations of demons might look completely different from how the demon in question has been depicted.

# “Shadow in the Light”

The Devil, confused at the shouting that King Dice was doing as he approached, then asked, “What’s all the racket, Dice? You look like you went to Hubia Hell yourself!”

Dice then said, “I did. Last night.”

Lillia then asked, “Why?”

Dice then replied, “I was getting suspicious of Gloria’s reports, and it turned out her words are meaningless! Hubia Hell’s sealed off from the Surface!”

The Devil then roared, “ **WHAT?!** ”

Dice then said, “No lies. I tried to bust open the door myself, but it looks like Archangel Raphael sealed it tight from the outside. The only way Lily’s gonna get there to do her mission would be to go in from the surface!”

The Devil growled, “Lily, Gloria’s the reincarnation of Astaroth. If you see her, give her a good wallop for me.”

Lillia grinned, “Considering all the damage she likely let happen? Gladly.”

Lillia opted to take her plane and fly in from the surface. After all, there’s a chance that they might try to check anyone coming in from sea. Unfortunately, Lillia was ambushed and her plane was effectively shot down. Lillia bailed out, but the landing was rough. How rough? Bad enough that one more hit might end her… and this is despite her taking a parachute with her because the same ambush shot that down as well.

Lillia could sense someone approaching, but it was hard to tell with how the place was unusually dark and the sheer pain she felt from her landing. Suddenly, a feeling of sleepiness was starting to wash over her as she heard a voice. She tried to stay awake when she realized whose voice it was, but soon, exhaustion overtook her.

Lillia wasn’t sure how long she was asleep, but when she woke up, she found herself in what seemed like a church or monastery kind of building. She was fairly certain that she was outside before. Before Lillia could get more answers, she saw two other humans dash in. One was a guy a few years older than her, and the other was a girl a few years younger than she was. The girl cried out, “Lillia!”

Lillia’s eyes widened, “Chris? Jane? Is that you?”

Jane smiled and hugged Lillia until the latter went “Ow.” After Jane let go, Chris then smiled, “What’s buzzin’ cousin?”

Lillia shook her head, “It’s been too long.”

Chris then said, “I know! Why didn’t Uncle let you stay in contact? After you moved out -”

Lillia sighed, “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember…”

Another voice spoke, “Easy now, you two. She still needs time to recover.”

Lillia felt uneasy, for it was the same voice that put her to sleep. Chris and Jane had to go, but Lillia promised to speak with them again soon. When Lillia's cousins were out of earshot, the person who spoke stepped closer to reveal himself. Despite dressing modestly, the man’s aura (which Lillia could sense) was recognizable. Lillia asked, “Archangel Raphael, I presume?”

The previously hidden halo showed itself as the Archangel of Humility nodded, “Yes, that I am.”

The two talked a bit, but Lillia was honestly confused with what was happening. Why wasn't he taking advantage of the opportunity to finish her off? The angel revealed something troubling. Apparently the conflict between angels and demons was causing far more damage than anyone involved would've noticed. The Hays Code in Hubia for example had shrouded the island in perpetual darkness. Worse yet, Raphael found that he literally was unable to turn it off. However, Lillia could tell that the angel was trying to hide something, and pressed the issue with more questions.

Raphael had managed to get information out of Lillia through agreeing to answer her questions if she answered his. After Lillia explained what happened in the Underworld, including how she and Aurelio seemed to be stuck as potential Dark Nobles against their will, Raphael thought, 'She might be the one who could fix this, but can she?’

Lillia decided to ask about the Balance that she remembered the Necromancer mentioning back in Acetria. Raphael sighed, “I was afraid you’d figure it out.”

Lillia was confused, but her eyes widened. Raphael explained, “It turned out that the Nephilim knew more than any of us, angel or demon, knew. If God was here, what would he say?”

Lillia then asked, “What do you mean by ‘If God was here’?”

Raphael shook his head, “This dates back to the second Angel-Demon war, the one where the Surface and Underworld teamed up to drive us away from Inkwell Isle. At one of the most crucial points of the fight, He had vanished.”

Lillia was stunned and asked further. Raphael mentioned that by the time they were able to figure out what happened, it turned out that a number  of individuals they knew went missing, but it wasn’t because of the conflict as far as they knew. Archangel Michael was the one who was stuck having to lead the angels, but without the God they knew or anyone else who could help, it was a struggle. Lillia then asked, “What part did Lucifer play in this?”

Raphael’s eyes widened, “You don’t know already?”

Lillia shook her head, “Uriel mentioned a split, but that you knew more of the details.”

Raphael sighed, “I fear it all goes back to that human king.”

Lillia asked, “King?”

Raphael nodded, “Lucifer and Satan were originally two different beings. Lucifer was a human who ruled over the island of Hubia as king, and Satan was an angel who frequently tested to see if humanity was worthy. One day though, Lucifer declared himself to be on par with the gods themselves. Naturally, Satan had gone to deal with this act of Pride.”

Lillia listened intently, nodding every time the name Lucifer was mentioned. Raphael continued, “I secretly followed, because something seemed different about this human. Alas, it turned out that he had a reason for his pride. Lucifer, and the humans of this island closest to him had been working on something even I can’t be certain of, but that flail you possess, Sol, was an improved version of the product of this secret project. Why Hubia’s leader created that flail is something I still don’t know, but it gave that king the power needed to actually fight back. Something that no human had been able to pull off against an angel before.”

Lillia’s eyes were wide open as she was shocked, “What happened then?”

Raphael sighed, “I saw Satan attempt to extract Lucifer’s Soul from his body, something that normally only those connected to Death like Azriel could do. But…”

Lillia then asked, “But what?”

Raphael shook his head, “Lucifer charged at Satan, attempting to land a finishing blow. When the dust cleared, Satan and I both believed that it was over, for the human’s soul was nowhere to be seen and his body laid lifeless. Satan took the flail with him, but he seemed to show a confidence I hadn’t seen before.”

Lillia felt a jolt, something that Raphael could see as it looked as though a brief spark of electricity zipped across the woman’s eyes. Lillia, unsure about the sudden epiphany, asked, “So Lucifer and Satan’s souls… somehow merged together?”

Raphael solemnly nodded, “Yes. And that was not only something that was unheard of before, but also the catalyst that lead to Satan’s fall from Heaven. I don’t know the full details, but somehow, after they fell into the Underworld, Lucifer eventually split off from Satan, but their souls were split into light and darkness. Satan ended up mostly with the darkness and became the Devil you know him as today. As for Lucifer…”

The Archangel sighed, “He became a winged being. I hesitate to call him an angel because although he had the wings of one,he was anything but an angel. In order to stop him, God sealed him in The Ninth Circle.”

Lillia felt a shiver, “The Ninth Circle?”

Raphael nodded, “Yes. It is said to be the coldest place in the Afterlife, in the deepest parts of the Underworld. But even that wasn’t enough to stop him from trying to take the Throne of Superbia which he claimed as his.”

Lillia then asked, “But how? If the Ninth Circle is supposed to be a place where none can escape without anyone knowing-”

Raphael interrupted, “That’s where you start to come in, Lillia.”

Lillia was stunned, “Me?”

The angel nodded, “Yes. For many years, Lucifer had been sending fragments of his soul, one by one, up to the Surface despite his condition. These fragments that he sent were to form living bodies with the sole purpose of trying to claim the Throne of Superbia. If he succeeds in having one of those bodies claim the Throne, he’d then use that to break out of his prison.”

Lillia’s eyes widened. Before she could say anything, Raphael then noted, “But… despite having to stop many an attempt of his, I can tell that you’re different from the rest of them.”

Lillia then asked, “How? Everyone else who’s an angel or demon seemed inclined to addressing me as Lucifer or The Light-bringer… well, aside from Dice and The Devil.”

Raphael then asked, “Dice?”

Lillia then noted, “Satan’s Right Hand Man, and the reincarnation of Mammon.”

Raphael nodded, “Ah, yes. I must’ve forgotten. Silly me.”

Before Lillia could say anything else, Raphael then spoke, “But to answer your question, Lillia. I can tell you’re different because unlike his previous attempts, your soul truly has reincarnated.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, fun fact: originally, Raphael wasn't going to be the angel that was helping Lillia in trying to break away from The Devil. I originally was going to have Samael do that. That is because originally, I was actually thinking of using Gluttony as Lillia's Vice with the idea of her search for knowledge going excessive being how she fell. However, this was leading to ideas that seemed to derail from the plot I had in mind. Also, as I was thinking, it seemed to me that Pride was just as fitting for Lillia if not more so because while her pursuit of knowledge did start her on the path she took in Motivations, it was her confidence that ultimately lead to her downfall because she let her guard down, and confidence seems more closely associated with Pride than Gluttony. The idea that the angel whose virtue is the opposite of Lillia's vice is the angel that helps her start to take the path that will get her out of The Devil's Service is one that I've always had in mind from the start.
> 
> One thing I will say though is that, back when I considered Lillia for the Sin of Gluttony and thus have Samael be the angel helping out, I had this idea in mind of the two secretly swapping places. However, that's not the plot element that made me decide that things went off the rails. It was more related to what Lillia was doing when she's not setting out for the other islands.
> 
> Also, about Sol being an improved version of the flail that Lucifer wielded against Satan? That was actually to fix a plot-hole I found when going back to edit the chapters. I had apparently forgotten that I earlier said that Azazel made Sol, the Flail of the Lightbringer, when I first made this chapter as I at one point said that Sol was the product of Lucifer's secret project, but since the fall of Lucifer/Satan was supposed to be the event that triggered many of the events that followed, that meant that Azazel was supposed to still be an angel at the time, and I'm pretty sure that he had fallen before creating Sol. So, apologies for awkward wording, but I felt that it was worth fixing the plot-hole.
> 
> Speaking of Angels though, I've had this idea that - unlike mortals and demons - angels who haven't fallen normally aren't all that used to the concept of free will. They've been so used to following God's orders that the disappearance of that deity affected them tremendously. Michael was a little more used to the free-will idea because he was the leader of the angels, and so had to make some decisions, but even he was affected by it. I honestly imagined Azriel as the angel who was able to handle it better than anyone else, but that's due to his role as the Angel of Death exposing him to belief systems outside of what he knew before. If I ever make a story that expands on the roles that the Necromancers played in all of this, expect Azriel to show up more.
> 
> About Gloria's reports, the ones that Dice said were meaningless? Well, basically, she was reporting that there were no casualties (but with the demons stuck in Hubia Hell and the Underworld, how can there be casualties?), and she mistakenly thought that The Devil expected Hubia to be shrouded in perpetual darkness (because of the whole Dark is Evil Trope).  
> Remember that barrier that was mentioned back in the chapter showing Casturia? Well, such barriers exist on every island where there's an active Hays Code on the Surface. You'd think that demons would be stuck outside, but there are a couple of factors that allowed Lillia, Aurelio, and others to bypass them. First off, Lillia and Aurelio still being mortal meant that they weren't registered as demons by the barrier, and they normally dress in ways that don't prompt the barrier to block them. Secondly, the barrier can not form inside the corresponding island's Hell, so as long as the entrance to that Hell isn't sealed up tightly enough, anyone can use the Underworld to bypass the barrier. To give an idea on just how tight the seal Raphael put on the entrance to Hubia Hell was, even Lillia and The Devil together can't break it from Hubia Hell. In order to break it by force (assuming nothing changes), those two and/or some of the others like Aurelio would have to make it to the Surface of Hubia where the Seal is and break it from that side, but odds are that The Devil can't get past the barrier himself. Stopping the Hays Code can weaken the seal enough for it to be broken, though.


	10. "Answers Realized"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More secrets become uncovered as Lillia begins to truly hear what has been happening on the angels' side of the conflict.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if this is more of a talky chapter. I think this was originally going to be part of the previous chapter, Shadow in the Light. However, I was worried that the chapter was becoming too long, so I decided to split it into two chapters.

# “Answers Realized”

Lillia couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Reincarnated? As in reincarnation? But wasn’t that something not taught in the churches?”

Raphael sighed, “That’s… one of the things that caused me to realize that the Nephilim knew far more about this world than the rest of us.”

Before Raphael could say anything else, a knock on the door was heard. Raphael excused himself to answer the door. Lillia didn’t notice during her conversation with Raphael, but he was using a healing spell to help her recover this whole time. She only began to notice because the room seemed to have mist covering the floor… and she felt the room was humid. Lillia thought, ‘At least the air was cool.’

When Raphael returned, Lillia gasped when she saw who was with him. None other than Coat-Owl Dave. What dumbfounded her though was that his aura seemed to indicate that he wasn’t fully human. But how can that be, unless…?

Lillia’s thoughts were interrupted when an orange pig dashed towards her carrying a small package in its mouth. Lillia picked up the package the minute she saw that it was from Aurelio. Before she could open it or the attached letter, Dave then said, “So you’re Lillia?”

Lillia looked and nodded, “Yes, but, how did you know my name?”

Raphael chuckled a little as he admitted that he mentioned her to Dave. The adventurer also admitted that he had been reading the issues of Revelation Review. Lillia was a little too awestruck to speak. But she snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Raphael mention, “Still, Dave, as the last Nephalem known to reside on the Surface, you’re the only one I can turn to about this matter.”

Lillia’s eyes widened, “Dave? You’re a Nephalem?”

Dave scratched the back of his head and chuckled, “Yes, actually. That’s how I got the powers that helped me through many a scrape for so long. I’m still mostly human though.”

Raphael admitted that he and Dave were on friendly terms for a while. Since Dave had figured out how to pass for a human (probably helped by how he was more human than angel), Raphael agreed to keep it a secret from the other angels who wanted to hunt down the Nephilim. Raphael asked about the pig and Dave then said, “Well, it wanted to head to Hubia, so I figured that I’d let it come along. Still, I’ve never known Beelzebub to actually use these familiars.”

Lillia admitted, “Beelzebub named another to take his place. He didn’t mean to do so, but it’s like it’s too late for him to reverse it.”

Dave would’ve asked more, but he saw that Lillia seemed saddened. She was reading the letter that Aurelio gave (and inside the package were some supplies, but they were carefully made). Samael had returned, but this time Aurelio was trying to negotiate with the angel. To Aurelio's relief, Samael was willing to consider it, but was worried about where Lillia’s loyalties lied. Lillia noticed a nearby calendar and gasped. More than two months passed since she signed that contract. Raphael decided to ask Lillia, “With everything you’ve been through up to now, do you intend to stay loyal to Satan? Or do you plan to turn against him?”

Lillia’s grip on the letter tightened, “Knowing that I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain, of course I’m going to go against him as soon as I can! He and that block-headed Dice threatened to harm Aurelio! I can’t let that pass!”

Wiping tears from her eyes, Lillia admitted, “I can’t deny that there was something good I got from this time serving The Devil. If not for that, I never would’ve met Aurelio. He and I had to endure all this, and no matter how rough it was, we were always together. But now… it seems like **he’s** trying to drive us apart…”

Dave then asked, “But are you able to fight him? And if so, why haven’t you?”

Lillia (who was sitting up when she took the package from the pig), took a deep breath before standing up. Facing Raphael and Dave, Lillia then said, “Back when I first signed that contract, I didn’t think I was powerful enough to fight The Devil. In hindsight, I think I had the power even back then, but I lacked reason to do so, which left me thinking that I was unable to fight him. As for why I haven’t thought to directly oppose that demon now? I think it’s because my method of rebelling is a bit different.”

Raphael tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

Lillia then smiled, “Ever heard of rebelling against authority… by becoming the authority?”

Coat-Owl Dave’s eyes widened as he noted, “But the stars shouldn’t be aligned for you to be thinking that way, should it?”

Raphael seemed equally confused, but Lillia sighed, “My guess is that the whole soul-splitting thing that Lucifer was doing might’ve messed up the astrology of those individuals whose souls are tied to him.”

She then added, “The point is, there’s something that’s been affected by this war. It might be this Balance that the Necromancer I saw at Acetria mentioned, but it’s something that requires both Heaven and Hell to exist to maintain itself… if I understand it right.”

Dave sighed, “Purgatorio used to handle that, but when the Nephilim were being hunted down, those who escaped sealed most of the entrances to Purgatorio to allow a sanctuary for those who refused to side with Angels or Demons. Unfortunately, that caused a disturbance that I can’t even begin to describe. Might’ve caused God to vanish if not for the fact that his disappearance happened first.”

Meanwhile, Belle was speaking with the Necromancer that Lillia mentioned. Belle was confiding in her about something that was troubling her. She heard from Joy about the possibility that The Devil was going to try and get rid of Aurelio and Lillia. The Necromancer shook her head, “I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do to stop this war, Belle. All you can do is decide what side you’re on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes, Coat-Owl Dave. Basically there were three or four major inspirations behind him. First was the fact that I kinda took cues from "Cotton-Eye Joe" for the name, but beyond that I was mainly borrowing cues from Batman and Indiana Jones. As for the decision to make Coat-Owl Dave a Nephalem? That was probably thanks to Diablo III (I haven't played the game, but I've seen some of Rhykker's videos about it ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRl31PWkfF0a3j3hiDRaCGA )), but I'll be honest, I never originally intended for Dave to be a Nephalem. I originally imagined him to be a human who retired, but it seemed natural for him to be a Nephalem (still retired from active hero duty though!).
> 
> Speaking of Diablo III, the Necromancer that Belle spoke to, as well as the Necromancers of Winterbell (an island that sadly, I don't think will have a chance to be visited in Realizations), were inspired mostly by the Priests of Rathma from Diablo III and Xul, the Necromancer from Diablo II that shows up in Heroes of the Storm. I loved the idea that Blizzard put forward of Necromancers not always being evil, and wanted to incorporate that. (Yeah, I haven't thought of a name for her, but since she's the only Necromancer I have planned to show up in Realizations, I just referred to her as the Necromancer. If I ever write a tale that elaborates more on the Necromancers, I'll be sure to figure out a name for her.)
> 
> The other major inspiration for Winterbell (and its necromancers) is, admittedly, Age of Wonders 3 by Triumph Studios. I haven't played the game, but big shout-out to MarcusAureliusLP of Youtube who did a series on it ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOcF93X3-AN0thZ6eA4NCSQ ). The way he encouraged viewers to participate and role-play not only got me interested in Age of Wonders 3 itself, but also was the thing that inspired me once and for all to get back into writing!


	11. "Bargain with Heaven"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lillia knows full well that The Devil had taken advantage of her. After what he and King Dice did to her and Aurelio, Lillia is convinced to go against her former boss.

# “Bargain with Heaven”

Back in Hubia, Lillia was surprised when another familiar face came in. It was Monica, a woman who almost lost her soul if not for Lillia offering her a way out. The dark skinned woman was equally surprised to see Lillia there of all places. Dave had to excuse himself, but Raphael was able to fill in the blanks. As Raphael explained to Lillia and Monica, The Devil is still acknowledged by the Underworld as its ruler. Lillia shook her head, “But aren’t there other rulers of the Underworld? Surely other belief systems exist, don’t they?”

Raphael flinched, but finally, he sighed, “That’s… that’s what Azriel said.”

Lillia was confused, but Raphael shook his head, “Azriel’s one of the few Archangels who was able to keep his resolve even after God vanished. It took us a while, but it turned out that he found himself helping out others who call themselves gods. He would’ve fallen for this, but he was allowed to remain an angel because he was only doing his job as the Angel of Death. That was a time when the ones who needed to deliver the souls of the deceased to the Afterlife were overloaded, and Azriel was doing what he could.”

Monica then spoke up, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but can we get back on topic?”

Raphael apologized before he explained, “The fact is, Lillia, if you intend to challenge The Devil’s claim to authority, then I’m afraid that you will have to take the Throne of Superbia. To become the Dark Noble of Pride. Doing this will prevent you from entering Heaven. Are you sure about this?”

Lillia only thought a moment before nodding, “Yes.”

Raphael was stunned, “Why? Other than your soul’s ties to Lucifer, you don’t seem like the type who would suffer in Hell!”

Lillia shook her head, “It was my own confidence that caused me to fall into the Devil’s service in the first place. If that doesn’t count as committing the Sin of Pride, I don’t know what could without becoming too obvious a villain.”

Looking Raphael in the eyes, Lillia added, “Besides, Aurelio’s stuck as the Dark Noble of Gluttony thanks to Fondesu using the incantation against him! Why would I ever choose to enter Heaven at the cost of abandoning the man I love?!”

Unfortunately, Lillia, who had stepped forward as she spoke, felt that she had to stop when she felt a sword pointed at her back. She immediately gulped, for she could sense that it was none other than Michael himself. Soon, it seemed like all of the Archangels had shown up, surrounding her. Lillia’s heart pounded; she never liked the feeling of powerlessness that she felt came back now.

Michael sighed, “You…”

Lillia turned her head a little and asked, “M-me?”

The angel who had his sword pointed at her glared, “Yes, you. I can’t let you claim the Throne of Superbia as you are now.”

Lillia then asked, “What do you mean?”

Raphael felt uneasy. It turned out that Azriel made the tough decision to tell Michael everything that was happening, including the stuff that Raphael was up to. Michael then explained, “You may be the only soul-fragment of that human king that properly reincarnated, but unless you can overcome the demon Lucifer, he **will** try to use you to revive himself.”

Lillia then turned to face Michael and, falling to one knee as a sign of good faith, asked, “What am I to do to prove myself, Archangel Michael?”

Michael was stunned. He had never seen or even heard of one of Lucifer’s attempts at resurrection actually show respect towards the angels, and he knew that the Demon of Pride had used female bodies about as frequently as male bodies (maybe a little less, but not significantly less). One of the angels, Ramiel (The Archangel of Hope), finally spoke, “You’re going to have to enter the Ninth Circle and face him.”

The only female angel there, Leileh (apparently The Archangel of Kindness, but noticeably one who was only recently promoted to that position), warned, “Beware though, for he will be able to control the flail just as well as you can.”

Despite the angels’ warnings, Lillia still agreed to head down to the Ninth Circle. With that, the angels who she hadn’t fought removed their halos and sent them towards her. Lillia’s eyes widened when she felt this power surge through her. However, then the angels spoke an incantation, causing a portal to open underneath her. After Lillia fell through the portal which closed behind her, Michael asked Raphael about why Lillia was behaving so differently, as it seemed like reincarnation wasn’t able to explain all of it. Raphael hummed a little, then admitted, “Honestly, I think it’s because of love.”

Michael then sighed, “That woman, and the new Dark Noble of Gluttony… why do those two believe that they can cope with being bound to the Underworld? Is their love for each other really that strong?”

Azriel smiled, “Perhaps belief also ties into it.”

Michael nodded, “Yes… this world is vastly different than it was back then…”

As the Archangels began to head back to where they were needed, Samael then asked, “Michael, do you still intend to install the Hays Code on that island?”

Michael didn’t answer at first. Samael, Azriel, and Raphael (the three who were still there at the time) all knew that Michael was deep in thought. Finally, Michael spoke, “At this rate, I’m not sure. Maybe it is time we consider trusting the mortals with the Surface. But…”

Raphael then asked, “What is it?”

Michael then said, “There are two things that I need to know: Are these two heroes from that land as capable as people say? And can they be sure that those souls are truly freed?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... things didn't go as I originally planned for this chapter. Originally, my idea was that Lillia only made the deal with Raphael without any of the other angels knowing at first. Furthermore, Michael was effectively planned to be the final boss in that I imagined him to be the last angel who held fast to the Hays Code plan. As for entering the Ninth Circle? I originally planned to have it happen during an attack Michael lead on the Underworld. Near the end of that battle, as Michael was falling back, Lillia tries to stop him from getting away. Michael, thinking that Lillia was trying to take his halo to break King Dice out of the binding spell, decides to troll him by tossing his halo at her, knowing that her soul would absorb it at a time where she was on the verge of falling into the Ninth Circle because of absorbing too many Archangel Halos.
> 
> What caused this plan to fall apart? Well, I think it comes down to the fact that Lillia never captured any angels during the previous chapters, as my original idea had her agree to help Raphael in part by freeing any angels that she had captured prior. But if you've effectively taken no prisoners the whole time because you've been fighting them so long and (knowingly or not) letting others escape so you can focus on your objective, then there aren't really any captives to free, are there? ^.^;


	12. "The Ninth Circle"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lillia has finally arrived to confront the demon that is her past life. Can she overcome it? Or will it overcome her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm... I split it into more than one chapter, but did this one become too short as a result? Hope not.

# “The Ninth Circle”

Lillia opened her eyes only to feel the cold immediately. She barely had time for her eyes to adjust to the lighting when she saw that Sol was moving on its own! Before she could react, the flail knocked her aside before flying off in another direction. Looking in that direction, Lillia saw a giant, winged human with horns. He was partially frozen to the spot, but didn’t seem concerned. In fact, Lillia was struggling to even look at him because his wings were shining too brightly. Despite this, Lillia knew who it was. She barely uttered the word, “Lucifer,” before a dark chuckle echoed around the room, coming from that being.

That chuckle grew until a laughter boomed. Finally, Lucifer roared, “ **I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS! THE ONE FRAGMENT THAT I REJECTED FOR BEING FLAWED ENDS UP BEING THE ONE TO MAKE IT THIS FAR!** ”

Lillia had to cover her ears a little, but she then asked, “Flawed?”

Suddenly, she felt herself lifted into the air until she was pinned to the wall behind her. Then, a glowing shape, what seemed like a yellowish heart shape emerged from Lillia’s chest but seemed like it was still tied to her by a thin, silver thread. Lillia gulped, for she could tell that it was her soul. Lucifer then smirked, “It seems like you were keeping those for yourself.”

Before Lillia could speak, she felt a sharp pain as the halos she acquired from the Archangels suddenly shot out of her soul. When she recovered, she saw that the soul in question now looked like it was only a piece of a heart and of a dim yellow ochre color, and only glowing faintly. Lucifer asked about handing over those eight halos, but Lillia adamantly refused. She had enough of those like him trying to manipulate her.

Meanwhile, Aurelio managed to find an opportunity to head to Hubia, having convinced Fondesu to swear fealty to him like in old times in exchange for allowing Fondesu to serve as one of a number of councillors in the reorganization that Aurelio was doing. It turned out that Fondesu, despite being a jerk at times, couldn’t bring himself to condone Dice’s plot to make Mugman the Dark Noble of Despair should Mephistopheles be forced to reincarnate. The imp knew that not every soul could handle being bound to the darkness against their will, and from what he understood, Mugman didn’t seem to be such a soul. Heck, Fondesu would argue that Cuphead wasn’t such a soul either, and he was the one who made that fateful gamble! The former Dark Noble of Gluttony decided to tell his successor, but Aurelio wasn’t willing to listen unless he knew that Fondesu wouldn’t easily betray him like what happened so long ago. Even then, Azazel volunteered to keep an eye on Fondesu to ensure that he wouldn’t try to reignite conflicts with Samael.

When Aurelio got to Hubia, he immediately asked the angels there about seeing Raphael. They were stunned, but obliged. Raphael smiled, “Ah, Aurelio. It’s been a long time!”

Aurelio smiled, “It sure has, Ralph.”

However, the conversation turned serious when Aurelio asked about Lillia. Aurelio, despite the warnings Raphael gave when he answered, decided to go after her. However, Monica face-palmed, “Dude! Nobody’s been able to find the Ninth Circle! I’ve heard many a demon had tried to find it in the Underworld, but they never found it!”

Raphael nodded, “They say that the Ninth Circle is the lowest level of the Underworld, so for even the most dedicated of demons to give up on locating it surely means that it can’t be found. And I’m afraid I can’t convince the other Archangels to come back to open it up a second time.”

Aurelio simply smiled, “That’s because they have it wrong.”

Monica then asked, “What do ya mean, kid?”

Aurelio, having thought about it while the others were talking, then said, “It’s because the Ninth Circle isn’t in the Underworld at al! If the Ninth Circle is normally cut off, then it has to be in a realm that’s similarly cut off!”

Raphael’s eyes widened but couldn’t finish his thought as he asked, “Are you saying that-?”

Aurelio nodded, “Nobody’s been able to find the Ninth Circle because it’s located in Purgatorio!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Originally, this was going to be Chapter 9 in Realizations, but due to how big the stuff happening between some of the islands had gotten, I felt that I had to add in the Returning from chapters to keep the lengths of each chapter reasonable. As a result, this no longer was Chapter 9.
> 
> And yes, I think the reference to Dante's Inferno was obvious enough that I didn't feel the need to bring it up. As for the twist that The Ninth Circle was in Purgatorio rather than The Underworld? I don't think I've had it since the start, but I had this idea for a while. I think it was in part to give more details on Purgatorio when I made the decision to include that. Initially it was just the Heavens and Underworld, but since Balance between Light and Darkness was becoming a major theme as far as I could see with this, it seemed fitting for there to be a part that stood as that in-between.
> 
> I will admit that this particular arc in Realizations (which might've started as early as Returning from Acetria, but isn't quite done yet) is probably one of the biggest turning points for Lillia. She still has a ways to go, but now she's finally answering the call to BE the hero she hoped would get her out of the mess she got herself in at the end of Motivations.


	13. "Light in the Shadow"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The demon Lucifer reveals what he intends to do should he escape. Lillia realizes that she doesn't have to fight it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the names "Shadow in the Light" and "Light in the Shadow", those originally came from an AU idea I had with Cuphead and Mugman with the idea basically surrounding what would've happened if Cuphead and Mugman were separated at birth: Cuphead still being raised by Elder Kettle, but Mugman having been taken to Inkwell Hell. Elder Kettle, ashamed of not being able to protect Mugman and thinking he was dead, never told Cuphead about it. It wasn't until Cuphead wandered into The Devil's Casino where he and Mugman would've met. When The Devil sent Cuphead to collect the soul contracts, Mugman voluntarily goes to help Cuphead. In short, the story would've followed the game's events except that it'd also explore how the characters would react to this one major change. Cuphead was the "Shadow in the Light" and Mugman was the "Light in the Shadow". This is NOT a shipping idea. I do NOT ship cupcest. I think I ended up calling this AU idea "Separated at Birth" as it sums up the premise of it. If anyone wants me to write out the story, let me know and I'll see what I can do if I get the inspiration for it.

# “Light in the Shadow”

Lucifer loomed over Lillia and grinned, “To think, the soul who lacks much of my light ends up being the closest to claiming my throne. And on the verge of revolutionizing the Souls industry without even knowing it!”

Lillia shook her head, “What are you talking about?!”

Lucifer grinned, “Your deal with that human. By giving her the opportunity to truly be free, you give an opportunity for her soul to be refined again despite your work on it. What can be said of the possibilities?”

Lillia gasped, “Iteratively refining souls?! Are you serious?!”

Lucifer’s grin widened with pride, “Yes~! I am! Considering how soul refinement increases the value of a soul, this innovation can allow **any** demon to refine souls to perfection. **ANY SOUL** can become a soul of prized value. And all of this can be mine~.”

Lillia shook her head, “Why should I let you get away with this?!”

A debate occurred between Lillia and Lucifer. Both were stubborn, but Lillia’s resolve wavered when Lucifer asked her how she could possibly manage Hubia Hell on her own. The Winged King scoffed, “You don’t know a **THING** about leadership! How can you expect to rule as Queen of Hubia Hell, let alone the Underworld if you wish to challenge Satan himself for the title?”

“...”

Silence between the two. Lucifer opted to change the subject as he remarked, “Ah yes… that piece of a soul that was more like the moon than a sun. I should’ve wondered why it vanished. It appears that Saturn allowed you to reincarnate.”

Lillia asked, “Saturn, the Lord of Karma?”

Lucifer grinned, “Precisely. God or not, he and the others who hold sway over the planets must’ve longed for a chance to break God’s hold over this world to allow your soul to reincarnate in a way that behaves like one from far in the future.”

Lillia then asked, “The future?”

Lucifer laughed, “How else do you explain your anachronisms? I know the humans of that island you moved to seem likely to know things that shouldn’t be known in the 30’s, but you take it a bit farther than a number of them!”

Lillia wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but her soul and the eight halos that circled it continued to hover.

Then, one day, Lucifer growled, “Since you still refuse, I guess I’m going to have to take what’s mine by force!”

Lillia’s eyes widened as she gasped. But as Lucifer prepared his flail, the ceiling above seemed to shatter like glass to where the two even heard that kind of sound. Lillia, amazed when she saw who it was, shouted, “Aurelio!”

Aurelio turned to face Lillia and smiled, “Sorry for taking so long! Wasn’t easy trying to locate Purgatorio!”

Lucifer sputtered, “WHAT?! Purgatorio?!”

To Lillia’s shock, Cuphead and Mugman showed up as well. Aurelio fired a shot from his breadstick shotgun, breaking the seal that held Lillia to the wall and she landed on the snowy floor. Still amazed, Lillia then asked, “How did you guys manage to find this place?”

Mugman then said, “We got some help from Monica and Jonathan.”

Cuphead then said, “I still can’t believe that Bluestone had been dodging angels and demons this whole time trying to get at the truth! Seems like you managed to inspire him.”

Lillia would’ve been ready to hug the group, but Lucifer roaring gave her reason to wait. She couldn’t use Sol, but she pulled out her two ribbons - the ribbons that she hadn’t used in a while. She remembered Azazel warning her about them not being designed to battle super powerful beings, but she didn’t have much of a choice.

The battle was long and fierce. Four against one may have helped, but Lucifer was not going to go down without a fight. Eventually, the demon asked again, “You don’t know what being a leader means, Lillia Gemma Morgana! How do you expect to rule alone?!”

Lillia, with a smile, stepped towards Aurelio, held his hand, then said while looking the winged one in the eyes, “Because, I’m not doing this alone! Whether it’s love or friendship, I know that there are those who are willing to help me, just as I have helped them!”

Lucifer, enraged, made one last charge at Aurelio. Cuphead and Mugman tried to fire, but the Demon of Pride was going too fast. Lillia barely sent her ribbons towards Lucifer to try and stop him. She strained herself trying to give the ribbons the power needed to stop the demon. Eventually, Lucifer did collapse, but so too did Lillia. Aurelio caught Lillia before she could hit the ground, but he saw that the ribbons she wielded were gone, burnt by the magic that flowed through them.

Aurelio didn’t pay much attention to the ribbons, for his focus immediately shifted to Lillia who wasn’t waking up for some reason. Aurelio pleaded and prayed that she wake up. Cuphead and Mugman hoped that things would turn out alright as well, but they had their eye on Lucifer. For all they knew, the Demon of Pride might wake up again.

The shape that was Lillia’s soul showed again. It wasn’t as firmly tied to Lillia’s body as it was before the battle, but Aurelio still tried to grip the silver cord out of fear that she’d vanish otherwise. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Lucifer’s body vanished in a bright flash of light. After that, a male voice, one that none of the group heard before, spoke, “So… it has come to pass?”

Cuphead then said, “Alright, whoever you are, show yourself!”

Mugman then exclaimed, “Cuphead! Don’t jump the finger gun!”

The voice then said, “Alas, I can’t. I’m just a voice, you see.”

Cuphead tilted his head, “We hear, but who are you?”

The voice then said, “That’s not important.”

From a glowing, almost ghostly, light, Cuphead and Mugman could tell that the voice was still talking, but they couldn’t hear it. The guys were pretty sure that some sort of conversation was happening because of the fact that Lillia’s soul was pulsing as though talking in turn. Aurelio pleaded, “Lillia, please… don’t leave…”

The voice then asked, “Aurelio de Abelard, even if you weren’t bound to the Throne of Gula, do you still wish to remain by Lillia’s side, knowing that she can never ascend to the Heavens if she is to return to life?”

Aurelio had long since made up his mind as he exclaimed, “Of course! Lillia and I have been through thick and thin ever since we met! No matter what happens to me, I would not ask for anyone else by my side, nor would I ever wish to leave her side!”

The voice then said, “Very well, but I will need those halos to grant this desire.”

The eight Archangel Halos floated up towards that light, as if Lillia was lifting them up and saying, “Of course! Here they are!”

The halos split into little star shapes and circled around the area, bathing the place in a shimmering light. Cuphead and Mugman were awestruck, but they and Aurelio looked at Lillia’s soul. To their shock, the soul changed form. It became a full-fledged heart shape glowing a yellow that was like her ribbons before Lillia set out so long ago, but seemed to be full of energy, more than her ribbons ever had. And yet it glowed with a gentleness that made it easy to look at directly without hurting the eyes. Soon, this soul returned to Lillia’s body.

When Lillia finally opened her eyes, Aurelio was the first one she saw. Realizing that what happened wasn’t a trick of any kind, Lillia was unable to hold back tears as she hugged Aurelio tightly. Aurelio hugged Lillia back and felt the tears flood his eyes too, just happy that the woman he loved had returned.

To Mugman’s surprise, Cuphead placed a hand over his heart, as though thinking about just how powerful Love seems to be. When Lillia and Aurelio finally calmed down, Aurelio smiled, “No matter what happens.”

Lillia smiled in turn as she added, “No matter how great a distance separates us.”

Both of them, though not in perfect sync like in the movies, said at around the same time, “We’ll always be together!”

The light that was coming from that voice vanished. But then again, it seemed like the whole area had begun to light up as the snow began to melt in parts and flowers of various light shades of yellow began to blossom. It was only then that Cuphead and Mugman noticed that Lucifer had chopped off some of Lillia’s hair during the fight. Though the four agreed that they should get going, Lillia tripped and almost fell immediately. Aurelio asked if things were alright, only to blush. Lillia glanced down at herself and similarly blushed. The two knew that by now, Lillia would be officially recognized as the Dark Noble of Pride as soon as the event occurred, but when did Lillia’s clothes change into that of a dress? Lillia muttered while blushing, “Just like in those Art Nouveau posters…”

By this point, Cuphead and Mugman had gone on ahead, so they didn’t really notice the clothing change. Lillia, with some help from Aurelio, managed to figure out how to walk in the dress, but the two didn’t get a chance to say anything when Cuphead called out, “Hey! We found an exit! Hurry up, you two!”

Mugman teased, “Yeah! Come on, you lovebirds! Wouldn’t want to stay here forever, do you?”

Lillia called out, “Coming!”

As Lillia and Aurelio looked at each other, they nodded, silently affirming their decision, before heading off to catch up with the Cup brothers to exit The Ninth Circle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I confess: I don't think I originally intended for anyone to come in to help her out. As I was getting to this part though, I realized that it was actually better for her to need help to get out of the jam she was in. Why? Because it actually shows that she's learned from her mistakes. Back in Motivations, her decision to try and handle things alone was part of what caused her to fall into The Devil's hands to begin with. After all, others had tried to point out to her that she could seek help if she needed it. If she just accepted that help, then she might've escaped the Devil back in Motivations. If she managed to escape the Ninth Circle by herself, then it doesn't really show that she's changed.
> 
> Speaking of the help that showed up, I didn't originally have Cuphead and Mugman there (I originally had just Aurelio or possibly Jonathan Bluestone back before Aurelio entered the picture), but honestly, I feel like those two cups been left out a bit too much in this story. This IS supposed to be a Cuphead fan-fic after all!
> 
> As for the voice that spoke to them but never showed a body? I honestly left it ambiguous on purpose. Whether it's the God that the angels follow, another God or Diety, or something else entirely - I didn't really want to commit to a decision. The only thing I can say with certainty though is that it is NOT Lillia's father, or anyone else she knows personally, based on the fact that the voice was unfamiliar.
> 
> As for the Heart-shaped soul? Thank Undertale by Toby Fox for that idea. The various Soul Modes were probably the main thing that had me interested in that game from a game-play perspective. I'm not saying that any of the game is bad (don't have it so I can't judge), but I just didn't feel compelled enough to get it myself. I have to point out though that unlike Undertale, Lillia's Soul color does NOT reflect her greatest virtue. This is because Cuphead doesn't really follow Undertale's Soul color rules either because the hearts you have to parry are pink. Honestly, if Cuphead followed Undertale's Soul Color rules, I'd guess that both Cuphead and Mugman would have Red Souls representing Determination. Lillia's soul being yellow in color is more to keep consistent with her associated color being yellow.
> 
> As for the whole "revolutionizing the Soul Industry" bit? Yes, that was an intentional reference to Monsters Inc. However, originally I was considering having Lillia say that herself, particularly saying that to Dr. Kahl in a scenario where he confronts her and accusing her of being no different from The Devil himself. However, that didn't go through because it seemed to be Out of Character for Lillia in the direction I was taking her. Now, if I was exploring a Bad End scenario where Lillia really did get corrupted by demonic influence, I can totally imagine her saying that and exploiting her idea to prepare for an attempt to take over The Underworld herself.
> 
> To explain: most Deals with the Devil require the soul. This deal refines the soul, but only once and once the soul is extracted, it can not be refined further without reincarnating (or if the soul is returned to the body, I guess). Lillia's deals also refine the soul, but crucially don't require the soul under normal circumstances. This means that she can't refine it as much in one shot as the other kind of demonic deal, but so long as she doesn't extract the soul, she can make multiple deals with the same individual, enabling her to refine it as much as she desires. Then should the soul's owner perish, there's the chance that the angels might see the deals and reject that soul because of them. Should the soul be rejected, Lillia would be waiting for them, as the multiple deals would give other demons reason to believe that she's got a solid claim on those souls, at least until the practice becomes widespread which would lead to competition for souls. If things go as planned, then until The Devil and/or his supporters adapt to this idea, Lillia and her supporters would have a higher chance of getting souls due to how she effectively has a cheaper price to pay for her deals (and the idea is to make the things asked of the mortal things that they would not mind doing).
> 
> Thing is, though Lillia can see the potential, I can't imagine her voluntarily exploiting this based on the direction things are going for her. And I don't like doing bad endings if I can help it. Motivations I felt was a bit of an exception because even though it was a bad ending for her, it was still open enough to where she could potentially pick up the pieces and go forward.
> 
> Also, I just realized as I was editing this that I think I slipped in a Road to El Dorado reference. Can you find it?


	14. "Resurgence"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lillia, Aurelio, Cuphead, and Mugman are finally leaving the Ninth Circle, but what do they discover upon exiting?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up: I have more chapters planned, but it will probably be a while before I can post them. Some of them I need to look over again to see if there are major mistakes to correct. Others I need to write out. Unfortunately, despite how much I love writing this story, real life is knocking on my door thanks to another college quarter. I'll try to work on Realizations when I have the time, but I can't give guarantees right now.
> 
> On a more positive note: I'm really happy seeing that you guys are reading it and showing interest in what I've written. I'm honestly inspired to try and expand from fan-fics to original works if I can just find the inspiration and the time! I couldn't have done it without you guys though. Thank you!

# “Resurgence”

When Cuphead, Mugman, Aurelio, and Lillia emerged from the golden portal that Cuphead found, they found themselves in a place they never saw before. It was an underground workshop, but one that wasn’t used in a really long time. As the four looked around, Lillia then realized, “This is the place where Lucifer worked on that flail.”

The three guys looked at Lillia a little confused. Lillia explained what she learned up to that point, and Aurelio frowned, “But what material could allow humans to fight angels without the blessings of an angel, demon, or nephalem?”

Lillia felt drawn to a door that had a book symbol on it. Opening it, she was shocked at what she saw: books lining shelves and what seemed like suits of armor littering the floor. Taking a closer look at the armor revealed that they were stuck together as though they were robots rather than armor to wear. Lillia took the time to move the mechanical things out of the way, whether by setting them down on chairs or simply sitting them down by a wall. Aurelio was helping, but Cuphead and Mugman wandered off. The cups decided to look for an exit first, though both were curious about the place.

Lillia picked out a few books that seemed to call to her. Perhaps her soul being complete now had done something, for she seemed to intuitively know where to go despite her conscious mind not knowing. As Lillia got to what seemed like the last floor before they could reach the surface, Cuphead and Mugman finally realized that Lillia’s outfit was different. She was wearing a long flowing dress that seemed to stop no higher than her ankles, white shoes with a yellow accent at the bottom (not much different from the brown shoes she wore before, actually), and heart earrings that seemed just a little fancier than the ones she wore before.

Cuphead finally spoke, “Good gosh, Lillia! I’m surprised you never tried this look before considering how you’re rocking it!”

Lillia felt a little flustered, especially when Mugman chimed in with, “Yeah! That’s a great look, Lillia!”

Aurelio then smiled, “You look amazing, Lillia. You don’t need to be shy about it.”

Lillia smiled nervously as she admitted, “I guess I just never felt secure about letting my feminine side show before.”

Cuphead then said, “Still, we shouldn’t get too distracted.”

Mugman took notice of some broken machinery and asked, “How much do you want to bet that we need to get these machines working before we can get out of here?”

Lillia shook her head, “No, it’s not that the machines have to work to get out of here, but we may have to fix everything up while looking for the key.”

Cuphead and Mugman immediately grabbed some cleaning supplies they found and Cuphead grinned, “Let’s see which of us can finish the job faster. I’ll head north; you head south.”

Mugman smirked, “You’re on!”

Aurelio laughed a little, “Just don’t break anything, you two!”

Lillia wasn’t sure how long it was, but it was going on long enough that her stomach growled a little. She, Aurelio, Cuphead, and Mugman had cleaned the place and fixed up pretty much all the machinery in the workshop that they could find, but aside from the stuff that reminded Lillia of the workshop in Inkwell Hell (which was on the uppermost floor and actually on the surface itself as Mugman took notice of a window that seemed only there to let light in. They needed to find the key to unlock the door there and exit), most of the stuff seemed unfamiliar. But as Lillia was reading the books and following the directions found in them, the four soon realized something. This colorful metal that the inactive robots were made of was something far more magical. Something that affected magic in ways that none would have expected. When Cuphead tested his Peashooter against a shield that Aurelio crafted, the two were shocked to find that the shield was able to nullify the attack! Sure, the Charge was able to get past that specific shield when charged up, but who’s to say that stronger ones won’t block that as well?

When they found themselves back at the lowest of the workshop’s levels, they discovered that there were blueprints for various weapons, including the flail that was Sol's prototype. Lillia whispered, “This metal… is capable of bypassing the defenses of the divine. And this workshop is capable of producing weapons that could stop them and, dare I say, might even be able to destroy gods…”

Shaking her head, Lillia then said, “No wonder this place was sealed away. People who relied on magic feared the power this metal possessed and for Lucifer to be running it means that those fears were likely to be realized.”

Cuphead then huffed, “That’s all very interesting, but we still don’t know where that key is.”

Lillia hummed a little, “Hmmm…”

That was when she noticed that the very first book in the series of books she was looking through had a thicker spine, almost like it was doubling as a secret compartment. She pulled out a knife that was inside a nearby drawer and carefully sliced through the leather. Just as she suspected, there was something hidden, and that something was the key.

Cuphead facepalmed and Mugman shrugged as the two said at the same time, “It was there all along!”

Lillia put the key away, but then she saw something else in that hidden chamber - a scroll. She looked over the scroll and saw what looked like a set of incantations. Each of them were color coded. Lillia decided to try one that stood out to her: an incantation in yellow that seemed to glow.

It looked like some sparks were forming as Lillia was trying to read the strange script, but she stumbled on a few words and the whole spell fizzled out. What didn’t help was that the yellow ink made it harder for her to read it.

The one that glowed next was the first one on the list: a purple one. This one, Lillia had been able to pronounce correctly and star-like bits of energy flew out from her right hand (which she raised as she read the scroll). Cuphead and Mugman followed the bits to where they found a robot much like the ones they saw before only purple in color. This one also seemed to be a bit different from the others in that it seemed to be decorated a little and possibly a bit smaller?

The bits of light entered the machine, and the brothers were stunned when they saw the robot shake a bit. The shaking stopped briefly, only for purple lights to turn on like eyes on the robot’s head. However, Cuphead took a closer look and realized that it was actually one big sphere of purple light, as if the machine’s soul was inside its head. Mugman did spot a sign on a wall with the phrase “The eyes are the windows to the soul” on it during the big clean up.

When the robot got up on its feet, it gave a bow to the Cup brothers and said, “Welcome.”

Cuphead had jumped back a bit and the brothers decided to get Lillia. The robot followed, and it seemed concerned. Lillia was looking at the scroll trying to figure out what the incantation she said actually did. Aurelio was polishing up the other robots in the room but both paused when they heard the Cup brothers shout, “It’s alive! It’s alive!”

Lilia then asked, “What is?”

Cuphead and Mugman were catching their breaths when the robot entered the room and bowed like a knight upon seeing Lillia. In the lighting of the room, the four saw that this one was rather different from the others. Yes, it was made of the most basic form of that material, but it seemed to have had some sort of mirror-like substance added to its shield and as accents to its armor. The robot then spoke, “My liege, though you’ve reincarnated, you have returned at last.”

Lillia, though a little nervous, smiled, “It seems like that is the case, um…”

Standing, the robot spoke, “I am Enceladus. First of the Augmented Reasoning Elemental Automata, or A.R.E.A. It has been a long time. May I ask what name you go by now?”

Lillia smiled, “I’m Lillia Gemma Morgana, but you can just call me Lillia if you want.”

Enceladus smiled, “It is an honor, Ms. Gemma.”

Lillia wasn’t sure how to feel about that name, but she made a motion towards the others as she introduced Enceladus to Cuphead, Mugman, and Aurelio. Enceladus bowed, “I’m sorry for spooking you two.”

Cuphead chuckled, “It’s alright. We were just surprised.”

Realizing that the incantations were key to animating the AREAs, Lillia wasted no time attempting the other incantations. Luckily for her, Enceladus was able to help her pronounce them. As the AREAs began to reanimate, they started going around, getting reacquainted with what happened. However, something was off. These AREAs seemed to behave almost too human. Lillia started to look through the rest of the books and was horrified. It turned out that those lights in the robots that looked like they were souls actually were souls. However, the four were confused when they searched high and low only to find that there were no Soul contracts whatsoever. This confusion only increased when Mugman pointed out that there were some who seemed to lack those lights and acted far more robotic than the others. Eventually, Enceladus explained, “None of us A.R.E.A.s you see here were made this way without our consent. Each of us actually wanted to experience what it would be like as a machine, so we incarnated as the souls in the A.R.E.A.s. My liege had never forced a soul into the chassis.”

Mugman then asked, “But what about the ones that lack those lights and act far more robotic?”

Enceladus pointed out, “Those are R.E.A.s, Mugman. Reasoning Elemental Automata. The only major difference is that they lack the souls that enable us A.R.E.A.s to behave the way we do. They are just as capable though, but are more bound to their magical programming.”

As the four looked around, they were stunned by the fact that a number of the REAs and AREAs were basically performing the tasks that enabled that metal to be used. Aurelio however figured out that it was at least in part to help ensure maintenance.

Once Enceladus showed the others how to exit the workshop, Cuphead noticed that Lillia lingered behind a little. Aurelio asked if something was wrong and Lillia admitted that if she was to take the fight to The Devil, then she was going to need a new weapon since she lost her old ones. To Lillia’s dismay though, her stomach growled again (louder than before). Cuphead, Mugman, and even Enceladus all facepalmed. Aurelio gently put his hand on Lillia’s shoulder and suggested that they get something to eat first. Luckily for Lillia, there was a place inside the workshop where food seemed to be grown. It was a room that had to be dealt with a little because of how things seemed to have overgrown there, but the REAs and AREAs had worked on that as well. Sure the food wasn’t anything amazing, but it was decent enough. Mugman did express concerns that perhaps something odd could happen though. Luckily, there wasn’t anything to worry about.

Once Lillia was done though, she poured through the books, looking for a weapon design. She thought about using swords, but realized that it would take a good chunk of time for her to get used to wielding swords well enough for her purposes - time that she didn’t have thanks to The Devil. She sighed as she started browsing pages on the various chain, whip, and flail-like weapons, as those seemed to be the best options for her because of prior experience. She was surprised at how those books seemed to have knowledge of weapons from all around the world… minus guns it seemed. Enceladus explained that Lucifer was likely going to develop them if not for his disappearance. Lillia sighed before explaining to him what she knew. Enceladus was shocked, but asked if Lillia was alright with taking up the mantle her past life left behind. Lillia nodded, “I may be nervous, but I can do this. I have to if I’m going to stop the monster that my predecessor created.”

Mugman then asked, “You don’t blame The Devil?”

Lillia then answered, “It was because of Lucifer’s actions that the events that made The Devil who he is today happened. If he didn’t, then there’s a chance that Satan might’ve been completely different, isn’t there?”

Cuphead then asked, “But what do you intend on using?”

Lillia finally found a page with a weapon blueprint that stood out to her. It was a chain weapon with weights on the ends known as Meteor Hammers. She liked the name, and the notes on them seemed to indicate that they would match her style of fighting rather well, making it easy for her to adapt to them.

It took her a bit of time because she wanted to experience what it was like to craft it herself, but Lillia was able to make the Meteor Hammers using this new metal, having used the strongest version available to her. The metal was silverish at first glance, but when Lillia picked it up, energy flowed through the chain and had an effect akin to fireworks at the weights, and the weapon shined iridescently, but not so much that it blinded any who dared to look. Much like her own soul, Lillia’s new weapon (Rosepen) glowed in a gentle manner that makes it easy to look at. Unlike Sol (which seemed to have been destroyed along with Lucifer’s body), Rosepen’s chain seemed almost ribbon-like when seen from a distance. Due to the length of the chain, Lillia had to conceal Rosepen as more of a belt. Then again, Lillia did remember that Sol always relied on magic more than Rosepen seems to need which might explain the difference. Still, it was simple enough for her to pull out when needed, and Enceladus applauded the craftsmanship. Aurelio took note of how the weights seemed to be crafted in a way that appeared reminiscent of the Art Nouveau style, a style that Lillia clearly took a liking to.

Once Lillia confirmed that Rosepen was just the way she wanted it to be, she headed up towards the exit. Cuphead and Mugman discovered that they didn’t need the key to get out, but Enceladus made them each an extra key so long as they promised to keep it safe. These keys would allow them to return to the workshop at any time. Aurelio too had gotten such a key. Lillia kept the original.

Before touching the door, Lillia looked back. It felt like a long time since she was last on the Surface, but now was the time to return to it. It was time to **FORGE AHEAD**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay. I'll dare say this: I think this is basically a love letter to Runescape's Elemental Workshop Quest chain. I used to play Runescape a bit, but despite originally only becoming a member with the hopes of reaching the lands of the elves, I never got there. Why? Well, besides how difficult I found it to train that Agility skill to where I would be able to do so, I ended up finding an area I loved too much to really focus on heading farther west. That area was the elemental workshop. Say what you will about the puzzles (even I admit that the Body Room was a bit much), but I just loved the place. The fact that the quests imply that the adventurer actually is intelligent is something I like because I feel a little bit more connected to my character. The designs of the elemental armor look pretty cool (even if the stats aren't all that stellar compared to other armors), but most of all, I see a lot of potential that just isn't being tapped into with the quest series only at 4 quests as of typing this.  
> What I've added here that isn't based directly on that workshop is basically my own attempt to imagine what the workshop could've been like if we got to see more of it. I mean, with an automaton like Da-Vi and the mention of a Soul, I'd think that robots wouldn't be too far-fetched. Add in the possibility of designing weapons made of this metal that messes with magic, and you can bet that those who heavily rely on magic might have reason to fear! It's like Runescape had the potential to take a bit of a sci-fantasy or sci-fi approach if that elemental workshop wasn't sealed away so long ago! Mixing Magic and Technology together... I just love it so much!  
> Also... I think I made that metal a bit more powerful than it originally is because of my attempt to imagine just how much it messes with magic. ^.^;
> 
> But on a different note: For anyone wondering why Lillia considered trying swords, it's because of the Heroes Prefer Swords Trope. Her being more melee-focused in her fighting compared to the cups and Aurelio did open up the possibility. However, she has no real experience with wielding swords, which leads to her decision to go with something more familiar to her.
> 
> As for that stomach growl at an inconvenient time for her? Some things never change, like Lillia's bad habit of skipping lunch if she's focused on something too much.
> 
> As for why Cuphead, Mugman, and Aurelio never complained about hunger during all that? Well, honestly, that's because of a couple of factors. One is that because they aren't fully human like Lillia is (Cuphead and Mugman being animated cups and Aurelio being at least half animated himself considering his mother), I honestly imagined that they didn't have to worry as much about eating as Lillia does. The other factor is that they did pack supplies earlier. They (especially Aurelio) probably would've shared, but due to an incident before they entered the Ninth Circle, all three of them lost the food supplies they had, so they didn't have any on hand by the time they found Lillia.


End file.
